Midnight Secrets
by eternallight101
Summary: Edward: a genius with interaction issues; Bella: a sarcastic, no holds-barred type of girl. Together: they will get through high school in one piece. Disclaimer: All things Twilight belong to Stephanie Meyers - Please review, this is my first ff
1. Chapter 1: First Impressions

**Midnight Secrets**

**Chapter 1: First Impressions**

**Edward**

Hell.

That's what high school is. Pure, unadulterated hell. I can't imagine anything else less worthy of my time. At least having Emmett and Jasper here make it worth something… I would have dropped out by now if it weren't for them. Not many people can say that they liked their brother or sister's boyfriend, but they were my best friends.

I looked around the lunchroom. The topic of discussion today: a new girl from Arizona has arrived for her first day of school in lovely Forks, Washington. Everyone was talking about her, everyone was watching her, and everyone wanted to be her friend. Her name, I gathered from all of the talk around me during the day, is Isabella Swan. She was the police chief's daughter. I turned to look at the table she was sitting at, to see her watching me. I caught her eye for a moment before she realized she was caught staring. I chuckled and looked away.

"What's so funny?" asked Alice as she sat down next to Jasper.

"New girl was staring. I guess she heard about the freak," I said more bitterly than I intended. Alice frowned and Emmett shook his head.

"Just because you are the smartest person alive doesn't make you a freak. Besides, she could be asking who the gorgeous guy is that's sitting alone," said Alice, always the optimist.

I looked over at her to see her looking again. She had big brown eyes, with such depth that you could probably see into her soul if you looked close enough. I chuckled as I watched her face grow red from being caught again, and looked away. Like anyone could be interested in me.

Everyone started to get up to head to class so I picked up what was left of my mostly untouched lunch and headed to Anatomy. I got there a few minutes before class started so I spread my books out across the lab table that no one shared with me, and started on today's class assignment. I looked up when the class became suddenly silent to see her walk in.

She handed Mr. Banner her form quietly, her head hanging down. If it wasn't attached, I'm sure her head would have rolled off of her shoulders by now. She shuffled towards my lab table, since it was the only seat available in the class. I wanted to ask her if she knew how to walk. The shuffling was getting on my nerves already.

I glared at her. Why do some people insist on being to lazy to pick their feet up off the ground properly when walking?! As she sat next to me, I had to hold my breath… she had the most horrendous smell coming off of her! She smelled like rotten eggs! How can anyone smell so awful?!

"Hi," came a quiet, timid voice. She sounded like a mouse squeaking. "I'm sorry for the smell. Apparently someone decided to throw a stink bomb in the cafeteria right before I left. A bunch of us got caught in the aftermath," she said by way of explanation.

I just glared at her. _Why didn't she go home?! Why didn't she skip the rest of the day and put everyone around her through hell?! The nerve of some people! Only thinking of her self! _When I didn't answer her, she shrugged and pulled her hair in front of her face and acted like she was listening to Mr. Banner talk about Anatomy like it was her favorite subject in school.

I spent the next hour in class glaring at her, trying to hold my breath as much as possible and hating her. Hating her for her lack of consideration, her lack of decency, her lack of hygiene, and her lack of … _common courtesy_! Every once in a while she would toss her hair, sending a fresh wave of the stench my way.

As soon as the bell rang, I ran out of class and out to the parking lot. I didn't want to have to sit next to someone else in Spanish that may be hygienically challenged. I sat in my car listening to a CD trying to figure out a way of not going back to class with _her_ again tomorrow. I realized that I could probably change my class since I really didn't need this one.

I ran up to the office and opened the door to see Ms. Cope standing at the counter, like she was waiting for someone to come in. She looked spotless so she must be waiting for the mail man to show up… everyone knew she had the hots for the man. Everyone but him apparently, since he has yet to ask her out.

I smiled at her charmingly, for I can get almost any older woman to do whatever I want when I was charming.

"Hello Ms. Cope," I said in a quiet, slightly husky voice.

"Oh! Hello Mr. Cullen. What can I do for you?" she asked somewhat flustered that I wasn't the man she was waiting for.

"I was hoping you could change my class. I would like to take something more challenging than Anatomy, if anything is available."

"Let me check. I don't think there is anything available, more challenging or not. Yep, look here. All classes during that period are full." She shuffled some papers and pulled one out on top. All classes read "Unavailable".

I heard the door to the office open, but I didn't bother to look. I was going to see if she could do me a huge favor.

"Is there no way, no other class whatsoever that I can change to?" I asked in a slightly more husky voice, smiling ever so charmingly at her. "I will even take Study Hall, if nothing else is available."

She fluttered a bit before replying. "No, I'm really sorry Mr. Cullen, there is nothing I can do. I'll be right with you dear," she said behind me. I turned to see who was disturbing us. It was _her_. Was she following me with her stench?

I glared at her before turning back to Ms. Cope. "Never mind. I can see that there is nothing you can do. Thank you." I stormed out of the office as quick as I could. I ran out to my car and jumped in waiting impatiently for my passengers to arrive.

When they all piled in, I sped out of the parking lot, tires squealing.

"What's going on? What are you so pissed about?" Asked Emmett.

"I heard he has Anatomy with the new girl. And… they she had to sit by him at his lab table. I guess he didn't like the way she smelled after being hit by a stink bomb," Alice teased.

"Stop, please," I groaned. I wanted to forget the girl and her horrendous scent. I shuddered at the memory. She really, really smelled _bad._

I dropped them off at our driveway and sped away to the hospital where I knew Carlisle would be able to help me figure out what to do.

**Bella**

Hell.

That's what the first day at a new school made me think of. Everyone was staring at me like I had a third eye. I guess in a small town like this I was unusual for them, being from a big city where the sun actually shined more than ten days a year. I made it to school early enough to find my way around to all of my classes before school started, hoping I didn't get too lost.

As the day went by, I met some interesting kids. I couldn't remember all of their names, but there was the blonde cheerleader, the quiet dark haired girl, the jock, and his buddies. They asked me to sit with them at lunch. Why not? It's not like I knew anyone else to sit with. I would stand out more than I already did if I sat by myself.

I sat down next to the quiet girl, Angela, who had kindly reminded me of her name. Jessica was on the other side of her and then the boys sat on the other side of me. The jock tried to claim me as his by putting his arm around my chair, attempting to be casual about it. I let him, for now.

"So, I thought people in Arizona would have more of a tan. What's up with dead look?" asked Mike, the jock.

"I'm part vampire. I can go out in daylight, but I still have their great complexion," I said. They looked at me like I was nuts. I guess people around here didn't have much of a sense of humor. I smiled and looked around the cafeteria. I saw the most gorgeous kids sitting at a table on the far side, alone. It's like no one wanted to sit anywhere near them. They had on the most expensive looking clothes I have ever seen. They must be rich. I looked away as the younger, good-looking guy looked towards me.

"Who are they?" I asked tilting my head in their direction.

"They're the Cullen's and the Hale's. Emmett, Alice and Edward Cullen. Rosalie and Jasper Hale. They all live together, and _are _together. It's weird," said Jessica with a shudder.

"Yeah, the Cullen's and the Hale's are best friends, so when the Hale's parents decided to move out of state, the Cullen's agreed to let them stay here with them. Emmett and Rosalie are a couple and Jasper and Alice are a couple. Edward is the only single one, but that's because he's … different," Angela said with a shrug. I think it was the most I heard her say all day.

I looked over at the table and saw that the younger looking boy was talking to the others, as he looked my way. I felt my face grow hot as I was caught staring. I quickly looked away.

"What makes him different? Is he gay?" I asked. I noted his well styled, messy-looking bronze hair and his fresh, very new looking couture.

Everyone chuckled a little, but Angela answered, "No, he's not gay. He's just completely anti-social. He's our resident genius. His parents are making him finish high school at the normal pace hoping to get him to act somewhat 'normal' around other people."

I looked over at him to see him staring at me. He looked away and chuckled, like he heard Angela's explanation. I watched as they all got up gracefully and walked out, their food mostly untouched. I guess that's one way to stay absolutely gorgeous, don't eat!

I got up as everyone else at the table got up to go to class. I stayed longer than I normally would have. I didn't want to be late to my classes on my first day. That would make for a bad first impression with my teachers. As I got the cafeteria door, a bunch of rowdy boys came running past me, shouting and throwing things. I realized from the smell that it was a stink bomb, and I ran out before I could get caught in the horrible stink.

I walked to my next class, barely smelling the horrendous odor on me. I should be ok for my next two classes.

I walked into my Anatomy class and handed Mr. Banner my slip to sign. At least he didn't make me stand in front of the class and introduce me. I think we could get along. Mr. Varner on the other hand, had made me stand in front of the entire class and introduce myself. We did not get off on a good start.

Mr. Banner pointed me to the only available space in the room. I looked to see that Edward Cullen was sitting there. He pushed his books over to give me room. He is _hot_! I took a good look from under my lashes while I walked slowly to the lab table. His bronze tousled hair, his sculpted body under his grey t-shirt, his dark eyes. I slipped into the chair next to him. _I wonder what made him anti-social? How can someone that gorgeous be afraid of anyone?_

I soon found out. As I turned to say hi and introduce myself to him, I saw him glaring at me. I realized that maybe the stink bomb got me more than I thought.

"Hi," I said quietly. "I'm sorry for the smell. Apparently someone decided to throw a stink bomb in the cafeteria right before I left. A bunch of us got caught in the aftermath,"

He glared. I felt my face flush red again and quickly moved my hair in front of me so I wouldn't have to see him. I guess I can see the anti-social part now. Every once in a while during class, I would take a peek at him through my hair to see him still glaring at me. He looked like he hated me. It's not like I had any control over what happened!

I looked ahead most of the class, trying to take studious notes, even though I already knew everything he was talking about. I just couldn't bring myself to sulk about being glared at… at least not in front of Edward. He would not get satisfaction for being so rude and callous! I wasn't going to let him win by letting him see how his behavior effectively irritated me. Someone needed to teach that boy manners!

As soon as the bell rang to end class, he was running out of the room. I put on a smug smile; _I guess I won that one!_ I thought.

I walked to my next class: PE. There was nothing worse than PE. I was clumsy at best, treacherous to be around at worse. I groaned not looking forward to the humiliation I was bound to deal with.

"So, what was with Cullen in Anatomy?" I heard behind me. I turned to see Mike Newton smiling at me, his eyes moving up to my chest when I turned around. I gave him an innocent look. "It looked like you tried to steal his puppy from under his nose," he chuckled.

"Oh? Was that Edward Cullen? I'm not sure what was wrong with him. Maybe he just didn't like me checking him out," I said as innocently as possible. He finally looked me in the eyes and I raised an eyebrow at him, smirking. He looked appropriately uncomfortable and walked into his locker room rubbing his neck in embarrassment.

During gym, Mike offered to be my partner in Badminton. It's a good thing he's a jock, he had to play for both of us after I nearly took his head off and gave him a bruise on his arm. He told me to stand in the back and just watch after that. I felt his beating was justified for the unwanted stares.

After gym, I went to the office to turn in my slip with all of my teacher's signatures to Ms. Cope as she had instructed me to. I saw _him _there. Edward Cullen. It sounded like he was trying to charm Ms. Cope into taking him out of his Anatomy class. I guess he really was anti-social. When he turned and saw me standing there, he mumbled something to Ms. Cope about "never mind" and "thank you" before stalking out of the office.

"Hi Ms. Swan. How was your first day?" asked Ms. Cope with a smile.

"Great! I think I'm really going to like it here," I lied with a smile. I handed her the slip and left. When I got to the parking lot, I saw Edward in a silver Volvo speeding away. _Immature ass! Hopefully he doesn't hurt anyone with his insane driving!_

I drove home in my brand new (at least to me it was new) red Chevy truck. It was a 1954 pickup that my dad Charlie bought for me. His way of saying that he was happy I finally moved up here with him.

"Hey kiddo, how was your first day at school?" he asked when I got home. He was sitting at our kitchen table reading the newspaper and drinking a beer.

"Great. Wonderful. I couldn't be happier."

"What happened? And leave out the sarcasm please?" he said with a raised eyebrow and my brown eyes looking back at me, tired.

"What are the Cullen's like? I didn't do anything to Edward but he was a complete ass to me in class. The guy doesn't even know me!" I said as I jumped up on the kitchen counter. I could tell my dad anything. It was from years of talking over the phone and emails. He had become my best friend.

"Edward is a genius. Unfortunately, with that comes some form of social dysfunction. He's anti-social, mostly because no one takes the time to get to know him and he doesn't make the effort to be nice. I wish the people in this town would grow up! He's still a kid with a lot to learn. Give him a chance. He may come around with you. He's only completely comfortable with his family, but then no one has tried to be his friend from what Dr. Cullen has told me. Give him time," said Charlie. "How was the rest of your day?"

"Fine. Some kids threw a stink bomb in the cafeteria today as I was leaving. I think I have some of the smell still on me. I'm going to take a shower. I'll cook dinner when I'm done." I said as I headed upstairs.

This was a two bedroom, one bath house, but when Charlie found out I was moving up here while Renee and Phil went off on a world cruise, or whatever they were doing on their honeymoon, he built me a bathroom in my room. I couldn't be happier with that! He may be my best friend, but he was still my dad and I didn't want him near my toiletries.

I shut the door to my new room, which he had expanded as well and grabbed my "home clothes" which was a pair of sweats and a tattered t-shirt. While I was in the shower, I thought about my day. _It could have gone worse. Mike wasn't bad, but not my type. Eric looked like he had a thing for Angela. I'll have to ask about that someday. Jessica was practically drooling over Mike. Tyler was a creepy sort, pretty much drooling over anything with boobs and legs. Angela was the nicest one that I met today. We may become good friends._ I hoped so.

_Edward can kiss my ass!_ I refused to give him more thought than that. _Tomorrow I will give him another chance, for my dad's sake. After that, he can go screw himself!_


	2. Chapter 2: Changed Man

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**Chapter 2: Changed Man**

**Edward **

I stared into the night sky not seeing the beauty of the stars. All I saw was brown and green. It was like I could see the stink coming off of her long brown hair in a green cloud. She was a cartoon character from hell that came to torture me. I have been hiding out at Aunt Tanya's ranch for the last six days and I still wasn't any closer to figuring out how to deal with her when I got back to Forks.

Carlisle had called today and told Tanya that I had to go back tonight, to be at school by Friday. He said that I have had plenty of time to "wallow in my narcissism long enough" and it was time to "face reality" again. He could be such an ass sometimes.

I lay down on the damp grass looking at the sparkling stars trying to clear my mind when I heard footsteps coming up. I turned to see Tanya riding up towards me on her prized mustang.

"Hey Edward!" she called to me as she walked her horse towards me. "I thought you were headed back home by now. When are you leaving?"

"No, not yet," I groaned. "I'm going to head out tonight."

"Are you going to be ok, Hun? I hate seeing you like this," she said quietly.

"I just don't know why I'm so different. Why can't I be normal?" _Oh, what I would give to be 'normal'._

"No one can say they are normal. Everyone has their own demons that they deal with on a daily basis, Edward. You are not different from anyone else," Tanya said firmly. "Have you figured out what you were going to do yet?"

"No. It can't be any worse than it was last week though. I know it wasn't her fault that she reeked to high heaven, but how am I going to face her now? I was horribly rude to her, but I couldn't help myself. How do I fix it? She was probably a real nice girl too." She was the only girl in school that I had a chance to prove to my family that I could make a friend with someone since she didn't know me. Now she'll probably never talk to me again.

"I know you will do the right thing. You are stronger than you give yourself credit for you know," said Tanya. I raised an eyebrow at her in disbelief. "We all have our flaws, you just wear yours out on your sleeve more than others. Don't worry Edward, you'll figure it out. You are strong enough to deal with it, you're a really good kid." With that she turned her horse around and trotted off.

I sighed. I wanted to be better. I wanted to be the Edward that everyone thought I could be. I went to all of the therapy that Carlisle asked of me and I understand that I need to integrate myself into everyday life with other people, but she just infuriated me.

As intelligent as I am, I am also really stupid.

I will just need to be extra careful with her. I got up and ran to my car knowing that if I didn't get home soon, Carlisle would make a personal appearance.

"Don't worry so much, Edward. What's the worse that can happen? It's not like you bite!" sighed Jasper. He couldn't understand why I didn't want to face her. That I couldn't bear the thought that I may have turned away my only option for a friend outside of the family.

"Yeah, man, just walk up to her and bite her. Then you won't have to worry about what her reaction was to you last week. You'll only have to worry about being thrown in jail for assault!" laughed Emmett. Rosalie punched him in the arm for me but laughed with her man.

"I think it'll be ok. Just go to class and try to be nice to her. Introduce yourself and don't directly bring up what happened. If she does, then just apologize to her. Tell her you had a really bad day and leave it at that," said Alice. She was always trying to get me to talk to other people, to open up.

I sat there sulking in the cafeteria waiting to see her walk in. I dreaded her reaction. I hate it when people think badly about me, even though I know everyone does. My limitations with human interaction have made me less than desirable to be around. Consequences I pay for my higher than average IQ, or so I was told. Life can really suck sometimes.

I watched as she walked in, head down shuffling to her table with her friends. She looked tired and only had a soda can for her lunch. I watched as Jessica Stanley looked towards me and giggled. Apparently they knew I was back. Someone always had to laugh at me.

"Are you sure you want to try it, Edward? Don't do anything that will make you uncomfortable," said Alice in a quiet voice only to me. Maybe it was because she was always so tiny and perceptive that made me love her so much, but she was definitely my favorite person.

"It's ok… I'll go to class and deal with it like I always do." I sighed and pushed out of my chair and ran my hand nervously through my hair. _I wonder why she walks with her head down?_ I shook my head and walked towards class. I was always early because I hated when people watched me, so I was always first in class.

**Bella**

_Shit! Why didn't I know he was back? Ugh!_ I walked into class and peeked at the lab table as I did every day for the past week. I was hoping he had decided to leave school altogether since he didn't _need_ to be there. I wondered why he was even still in high school if he was so smart.

I watched him squirm in his chair as he noticed me walking in. _Good! That asshole tried to make me feel bad about myself when I had no control over what happened. I'm not going to let _anyone _do that to me again! _ I help my head up high as I walked to our table. I pulled out my chair and sat down, proud of myself for not tripping on my own feet for once.

My plan: ignore him! I wouldn't let him see how much he upset me until he was ready to apologize to me. He has no idea how long I could hold a grudge for!

Mr. Banner walked in then, pulling in a cart with trays. Whatever it was stunk! He started passing out the trays one to each pair at a lab table.

"Alright everyone! Settle Down! Today we are going to do something different. In your tray you will find a scalpel, tweezers, and … a frog!"

The girls in the class groaned while the guys whooped and hollered. Edward sat stiffly next to me, not saying anything.

"I want everyone to take turns identifying the organs listed on the white board. If you have any trouble, just ask," instructed Mr. Banner.

I pulled out a pair of small gloves for myself, while Edward grabbed a pair of large gloves from Mr. Banner's offering. I gloved up and picked up the scalpel, ready to just get it over with. I already knew where all of the listed organs were since I took this class in Arizona already. I didn't want to tell Edward that though.

I cut down the center of the frog and used the tweezers to pull open the incision. I picked up the pins that came in the tray and started placing them in the correct organs. I peeked over every once in a while to see Edward watching with rapt interest. After I got the first half of the list completed, I turned to him.

"Want to try?" I asked harshly. He started at my sharp tone but took the pins out of the tray and quickly placed the rest of them into the correct organs.

We were the first ones done with the assignment so I pulled out my notebook and started doodling on it.

"Hi," came a quiet, but clear voice. "I'm Edward Cullen. I wanted to apologize for my obscene behavior last week. I was having a really bad day and I should not have placed my foul mood on your unfortunate circumstance." I looked at him in disbelief. He was apologizing!

"Damn straight! My 'unfortunate circumstance' put me in a 'foul mood' too, you know! What makes you think that you are the only person who has bad days? I mean, c'mon! It was my _first fucking day_ at a new school and I was hit with a _stink bomb_! Talk about a bad day! Did it ever occur to your fucking genius mind that maybe, _just maybe_, someone else besides you could have a _'bad day'_?" I said angrily. "The nerve of some people!" I muttered under my breath.

"I'm really sorry. Really. I am." He sat back towards his side of the table and pulled out a book to start reading while running his hand through his hair. He looked confused and hurt.

_Good!_

"Mr. Cullen, did you help Ms. Swan with the assignment?" asked Mr. Banner.

"She did the first half and I did the second half, sir," Edward replied without looking up.

"Is that true Ms. Swan?"

"Yes, sir. I did this already in Arizona," I admitted with a shrug.

"Perfect," he mumbled as he walked away.

"Were you in Advanced Anatomy in Arizona?" Edward asked quietly.

"Yes."

"Oh." He looked uneasy. What was he so worried about? "Well, if you ever need any help in any of your classes, I can help." I looked at him like a deer in the headlights. "I know adjusting to a new school can be difficult and the curriculum will probably be different."

"Huh? You're shittin' me, right? What are you trying to do? Make up for being a dick? I thought you hated me?"

"I don't hate you," he grimaced. "I just wanted to make up for my deplorable behavior last week." He put his head down, and looked like a sad puppy.

I think my jaw dropped somewhere in the vicinity of my knees. He really was apologizing! I don't think anyone has ever apologized to me before.

"Um, ok. I doubt I will need help, but I'll keep your offer in mind if I do," I said still mystified at the total one-eighty Edward seemed to have done. He was like a completely different person than the first day I met him. Like he was a changed man.

He perked up a bit at that. "Great, just let me know," he stammered as his face went tomato red.

"Ok class, that's it for today. Expect a test tomorrow," said Mr. Banner.

I didn't join the class in groaning. I wasn't worried about passing it.

The bell rang and Edward jumped out of his seat like it was the fire alarm and ran out again.

_Holy smoking shoes Batman, what's his hurry?_

I spent the next hour taking my frustration out on poor Lauren during volleyball. I think I hit her at least three times with my clumsy attempts at the sport.

By the time I was done with gym, I had embarrassed myself enough to feel bad for Edward. I knew it was probably hard for him to apologize to me, and I was being self-centered thinking that his running out had anything to do with me. I walked out of gym last hoping Lauren wasn't waiting for me outside.

"Hi Bella," came a bird-like chirp next to me. I jumped, startled to see a small girl with a pixie haircut and big brown eyes smiling up at me. Strange how Edward didn't look like his brother or sister very much.

"Hi," I mumbled back to her. I slowed down but didn't stop. I wasn't in the mood to deal with another Cullen.

"Do you have a minute? I really wanted to talk to you." She stood there swaying from side to side, almost like she was dancing. She was probably as graceful as a dancer from the way she moved and looked.

I hated her already.

I sighed. "Sure, what's up?"

"Well, I know my brother apologized to you for his behavior," I nodded. "Well, I'm very protective of him. He may be a genius, but he misses the little things. Like the fact that maybe you were having a hard day too. I hope you don't hold it against him and give him a chance. He really is a good guy." With that she waved and floated away. _Floated! What a bitch! What a protective, mother hen-like bitch!_

I practically ran to my truck, hoping to avoid any more Cullen's, or anyone else for that matter.

I wasn't so lucky.

"Hi," came a quiet, clear voice that I was started to really hate, and like at the same time. It was a really mesmerizing sound. He probably had a good singing voice.

"Hi."

"I'm sorry to bother you again," he said quietly, fidgeting.

"Spill it already. What do you want?" I asked. He looked uncomfortable enough for me to feel a little sorry for him.

"I, uh, I scratched your truck," he said even more quietly than before that I almost didn't hear him. Almost.

"You what?" I said in a quiet even tone, but dripping with anger. My anger was making my face go hot and red. "How? Why?"

"It was an accident, and my brother Emmett and his girlfriend can fix it for you. It won't be any trouble, they are good at restoring vehicles," he said in a rush. He was getting more agitated the more I fumed.

"We'll see. Where is it?" I asked not seeing any damage. He walked around to the back driver's side fender and I saw the scratch that was about five inches long. It looked like someone keyed it, but just barely. Only paint damage, nothing that would take major work to fix.

But it was a new paint job.

"This looks intentional," I said glaring at him.

"No, it's not. I swear it was an accident. I walked by and my bag scraped against your truck," he said nervously holding up his bag.

"Fine. I'll send you the bill," I said and climbed into the truck. He watched as I backed out and drove out of the parking lot.

Ok everyone… Thanks for reading! I hope to have Chapter 3 up by next Sunday. I will try to keep to that schedule as best as I can.

Reviews are better than frogs! 


	3. Chapter 3: Insight

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**Chapter 3: Insights**

**Edward**

_I have no idea what I'm doing. Why can't I be 'normal'? I tried to apologize but she seems hell bent on hating me. I need to find some way of getting on her good side. It's bad enough that everyone else at school hates me. Why does the newest person, someone who's been here for less than three weeks, hate me too? _

I hiked through the woods near my home, on my way to town. I took the short cut that Emmett, Jasper and I had found a few years ago. It took me in a straight line to town through the forest. It could be creepy if I thought about it at all, but I was to intent on my destination.

I had to know what she was doing.

It was dark and cold, but I didn't notice either. I knew my path and I knew where I wanted to go. Before long I was there.

Standing in the backyard of the town's sheriff looking up into her window.

It's a good thing there were no close neighbors, only forest behind their house.

Bella crossed the window at that moment and my breath caught. She pulled open the curtain and opened the window. She had her hair down and it blew in her face as the fresh air rushed into her room. She was stunning!

Not expecting to actually see her this late since it was midnight already, I turned around quickly and walked out of the yard.

I didn't want to be a pervert.

She was fascinating to watch though.

I stood just outside of the yard and looked up. I could see the curtains blowing in the breeze and hear music playing. It sounded like classical music. I couldn't be sure since it was so far away and to quiet to hear.

I figured I would wait until she turned out her lights then I would go back home. I waited and watched. She never came back to the window; I guess she likes to sleep with fresh air.

As the time passed, I considered my options. I had the weekend to hope she would forget about being upset over the scratch. I couldn't believe Emmett did that! He just walked up to her truck and keyed it! Lightly, but still enough to damage the paint. He told me to say that I did it on accident and to have her bring it to the house so he and Rosalie could fix it. He didn't understand why I was upset, thinking it was the perfect plan to get her to come over. I wanted her to be my friend, not hate me for ruining a perfectly good paint job!

Emmett thought it was perfect.

I thought he was insane.

But why was I so focused on her liking me? It made no sense. I was content with my family. I was going off to college next year and I would be satisfied there too. There had to be reason for the attraction. Everything had a reason for being; I just needed to find it.

I started a mental list for a process of elimination.

_She was smart, proven by being in advanced classes._

_She was outspoken, proven by her outburst when I tried to apologize to her… Twice._

_She had a temper, proven by her quite rage over the scratch._

_She was beautiful, proven by her male followers._

_She was … everything I was not._

I could say that about almost anyone, but she was the only one that mattered. She could speak her mind and her mind was fascinating to me. I don't think she could _not _say something, even if it was hurtful. Could it be possible that she is just a rare, _honest_ person? Someone who didn't know_ how_ to tell a lie?

I looked up again. It was after one in the morning and her light was still on. The music was still going, but there was no movement. I decided I had to see her. I walked back into the yard and examined the tree that was right outside of her window. I could easily climb it.

I climbed half way up before I realized what I was doing. I could go to jail for this! And it would be her father that locked me up! I seemed to lose all sense of responsibility when it came to Bella Swan because I continued to climb.

When I reached the window I called out quietly, "Bella? Bella, can I talk to you?" There was no reply. No movement whatsoever to indicate she even heard me. I moved closer, my head almost in the window now. "Bella?" I heard a soft snore.

She was asleep.

I took less then a breath before I deciding to look inside. I pulled the curtain out of the way and looked.

She was curled up on her bed, wearing grey sweatpants and an old worn white t-shirt. Her coffee brown hair was flared out over her white pillow. The contrast was simply amazing. It looked like a halo around her. She looked so peaceful and calm in this moment, I wanted to remember it forever. I turned to leave when something caught my eye. She had stacks of medical books on the floor.

Why would she have medical books?

I wanted to take a closer look but I knew that would be a really bad idea. I would just have to wait until Monday to talk to her. I left her then vowing to not come back and be the pervert I felt like.

When I got home it was almost three in the morning. I went straight to my room on the third floor and closed the door. I opened up my drawing pad and started sketching. I wasn't very good, but since I couldn't play the guitar this late, it was my only escape from my mind.

After I drew Bella, with her hair and pillow acting as her halo for her angelic face, I changed and went to bed dreaming of her.

I slept until Esme knocked on my door at noon, wondering if I was sick. I opened the door for her and told her I was fine.

"Edward, I know you were out late last night. Is everything alright?" she asked, concern showing in her green eyes.

"I'm fine Mom, just had a lot to think about." I wanted to talk about my obsession with Bella, but I was afraid she would think I was a pervert. Every mother's nightmare I'm sure.

"I don't suppose you want to talk to me about it? Maybe Emmett or your dad? You know we won't judge you, honey. We can help," she said almost pleading with me. She wanted the best for me, and wanted to protect me from the world, but I had to deal with this on my own.

I didn't need to share _all _of my obsessive tendencies with the family.

"I'll be fine Mom, really. I'll be down in a bit for lunch," I said as I started to close the door with a smile.

"Edward, there's someone here to see you. She said something about getting her truck fixed?" Esme said hesitantly.

"OH! I'll be down in a few minutes, let me wash up first," I said, starting to panic. It had to be Bella. Why is she here? I thought she was going to send me the bill? I thought she was going to Jacob Black's garage to get the paint matched.

I closed the door and half ran to my bathroom where I jumped in the shower while it was still cold and washed as fast as I could get my hands to move. I jumped out and brushed my teeth and ran my fingers through my hair. I never took more time than that on my hair, it just did what it did.

I pulled on a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt, pulled on my socks and black hiking boots. For once, I didn't stand in front of the mirror and check myself half a dozen times to make sure everything was on. For once, my compulsive ways didn't interfere with my wanting something. I just ran out of my room, to anxious to see her.

**Bella**

I had no idea why I was here. I could just go to the local garage and send him the bill for the paint job, knowing that he could pay any amount that Jacob Black decided to charge. He was notorious for over-charging. Pulling up to the house, I knew any amount Jacob would have charged me would be pocket change for the Cullen's.

Their house was a three-story mansion, with glass walls on the first floor. It was absolutely amazing! The landscaping was immaculate and absolutely gorgeous with its simplicity. The grass was perfectly cut into a checkerboard pattern, the driveway went in a circular design into the back of the house, and the front door was a simple glass door that just invited everyone in.

It was like there were no secrets once you walked through those doors.

I parked in front of the house, thinking my truck was _so _out of place here. I looked around wondering if I should just leave, but I'm sure they heard me coming from the highway a mile away. I took a deep breath and opened the door.

I made it to the front door without falling on my face and hesitated. Should I knock on the door or ring the bell? _I am so over thinking this!_ I rang the doorbell. Almost immediately I saw a man that looked like he should be in a GQ spread come to the door. His blonde hair was combed back, not a strand out of place, his ice blue eyes looked comforting and friendly instead of creepy, like most people with his coloring, and his demeanor was instantly one of welcome.

He smiled as he opened the door. "Hi, you must be Bella. I'm Carlisle, Edward's dad. Come on in." He stood aside to let me in… I felt like an idiot for being here, but he was just so, _happy_, how could I not go in?

"How do you know my name?" I asked like an idiot. I'm sure everyone knew about the new girl in town, I'm sure everyone knew everyone else in town for that matter.

"Everyone knows you," he laughed. "Don't worry, we all just like seeing Charlie glowing as he has been for the past month," he said as the horror surely showed on my face.

"I came to see Edward, is he here?" I asked quietly.

_Why did I come?! _

_I should leave! _

_Run now while you still can!_

"Yes, but he's still upstairs. Esme went to get him. He might be awhile since he has a routine that he absolutely sticks to. So why don't you go on in, Emmett and Jasper are playing chess. They cheat in so many different ways, it's hilarious to watch!" said Carlisle with a warm smile.

"Thank you, Dr. Cullen," I said, wondering what "routine" Edward had to stick to before coming down.

"Carlisle, please."

"Carlisle," I smiled as I walked in. He showed me to the living room, which was huge! I passed a mahogany staircase with white carpet. The living room had plush white carpeting too, with a brown leather sofa, brown leather recliner and a plush green beanbag in the middle of the room! It looked oddly _right_ being there, even if it was completely out of place with the rest of the house.

"Hey! If it isn't Charlie's angel!" exclaimed Emmett before erupting in laughter. Jasper joined in his laughter as if it were contagious.

"Cute, I haven't heard that one before," I said sarcastically, but I smiled anyway, it was cute.

I sat down on the beanbag since it looked comfortable and watched as they played chess, ready for a long wait as Dr. Cullen had suggested it would be. I laughed at what I thought were blatant attempts at cheating, but it turned out that they had their own rules, and each game was different. It boggled the mind to watch it.

Just as the game was getting down to the last few pieces, Edward came running downstairs. It only took about a half hour.

"Hey! If it isn't Sleeping Beauty!" exclaimed Emmett, erupting in laughter again. I started to laugh with him, but I noticed the atmosphere in the room changed. Emmett and Jasper both looked at a wall clock behind Jasper, Dr. Cullen stood off to the side of the room, while Edward mumbled something like "shut up" to Emmett.

Dr. Cullen shook his head slightly in Emmett's direction before ushering Edward into what I could only guess to be the kitchen.

As soon as Edward was out of sight, Jasper whispered, "that was quick. Was he really asleep?"

Emmett shrugged and looked at me. "Maybe Charlie's angel made him speed up the process," he smirked. I shuddered slightly; _I hope they weren't talking about what I think they were talking about! _

_Gross!_

At that moment, I heard Edward say a little to loudly, "Stop! Will you leave me alone?" He then stormed into the living room, running his hands through his hair. He seemed to be talking to himself under his breath.

"Hi Bella, what are you doing here?" he asked obviously disturbed, but I couldn't figure out why.

"You offered to fix my scratch, remember? I thought I would save you the outrageous bill you would get from Jacob's." I heard Emmett try to hide his laugh as a cough; it didn't work. I glared at him, "What?" I demanded.

"Nothing, nothing! It's just hard to believe my brother had it in him," no longer trying to contain his merriment. Tears were streaming down his cheeks as he laughed. Quiet Jasper had a smile and was shaking his head. Edward was beet red and mumbling to himself again. I was the only one not in on the joke.

"Well, if inside jokes are how you treat your guests, then I should go. I don't appreciate being the butt of a joke that I understand." With that I got up to leave.

Just then Dr. Cullen walked in. "Gentlemen! Do we act so poorly in front of guests?" he questioned them. It was a silent authority he held over them because they immediately stopped laughing and glaring at each other.

"Sorry Bella. That was rude of me. The joke is on Edward, not you. If you get to know him, you will understand that scratching your truck is not something my brother is capable of doing." Emmett then turned to Edward, "Sorry man!"

"Bella, would you like to go outside?" asked Edward quietly. I nodded and followed him out the back door. We stopped under a large tree when he turned to me.

"I'm sorry about that Bella. I will ask Emmett to fix the scratch but I thought you would be more comfortable out here, away from them. Please excuse me for a moment." He turned and walked back inside.

The yard had no fences. The only thing separating the yard from the forest was a creek that ran along their property. The yard was riddled with trees, like it was part of the forest. Absolutely peaceful.

Edward came back outside fidgeting with his t-shirt and running his hands through his hair. He looked really uncomfortable.

"He said he could have it looking like new in an hour. Would you like to go for a walk while you wait?" I nodded.

"Are you ok Edward? I know I should have called first, but I had just left Jacob's when I decided to come here. He really is nuts trying to charge what he does!" I said as I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, that's part of the reason why Emmett likes working on our cars. He figures he can get loyal customers who are willing to pay reasonable prices." He was still fidgeting, and walking almost sideways, watching me. He was making me nervous.

"Edward. Are you ok?" I stopped walking and faced him.

"Yes. No. Yes. I don't know." Edward looked really uncomfortable. He took a deep breath and looked me in the eye. His green eyes no longer held the darkness that I saw on our first meeting. He looked scared, almost like a frightened child. "I don't get many visitors."

"That's ok, I don't usually visit anybody," I laughed. "I'm not the easiest person to be around. I don't have much of a filter between the brain and mouth so I don't get invited to very many places either. I don't mind though, I'm not the social butterfly that my mother wants me to be. It's part of the reason why I'm here with Charlie now." Why was I telling him this? I couldn't seem to stop talking. "My mom married Phil earlier this year and wanted to drag me around with her to all of his 'stately' functions. Phil's the local DA in Phoenix." I really needed to stop talking. I shook my head and decided to get him to talk. "So, what's your deal? Why are you so anti-social?"

"I, uh… I have some personal issues that make me unpleasant to be around at times." He looked at me with those green eyes again. "I have OCD and Paranoia. It usually takes me about an hour before I can leave my bedroom every morning. I have a strict routine that I have to follow. I have no control over it."

"And the Paranoia? Is it delusional or Paranoid Personality Disorder?" I asked quietly. I was completely taken off guard by his honesty.

He looked surprised. "PPD. How do you know about it?"

"I'm studying different types of mental illness. I want to specialize in it, so I started early. I am taking most of my college prerequisites already so I can get a head start on it. The mind fascinates me."

"Oh. So are you using me as your personal guinea pig then?" he asked bitterly.

"No. I had no idea you had PPD or OCD. I was told you were anti-social, but I never saw the signs of either one. You seem to only be with your family, but that could be because it's harder to make friends with people who don't understand your higher IQ. I didn't even associate you with having a mental illness. You hide it well," I smiled at him hoping to put him as ease. I now understood his rotten behavior, but I didn't understand why he didn't have the usual symptoms.

"Thanks," he said dryly. We continued to walk around catching a glimpse at the almost fabled sun.

Again, I felt the need to talk. To tell him things that I never, _ever_ speak of.

"I had a sister that suffered from schizophrenia. Since the day she was diagnosed two years ago, I started studying it. I had to know what was causing it, what helped, what didn't, what could I do to make it easier for her. She eventually decided that her ex boyfriend was out to get her and that no one could protect her. The problem was, she had no ex boyfriend. She never dated anyone. She was in her college dorm when they found her. She had slit her wrists the night before." I had no idea why I was telling him all of this. I couldn't look at him. I couldn't face the looks of sympathy from other people but it would be a hundred times worse coming from him. He understood.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I know how hard it is to live with PPD, but I also understand that there are things out there to help me. Your sister sounded like she didn't trust herself or her family enough to help her. My family has no secrets. It's how I am able to trust them so completely. It's the only way I can survive in a house full of people who are all happy and love life. Jasper and Rosalie grew up with us, so I am able to trust them as much as I trust my other siblings. They are just an extension of them. There are no secrets in a house made of glass."

I looked into his green eyes and nodded.

He understood.


	4. Chapter 4: Enigma

**Thanks to everyone for adding Midnight Secrets to you favorites!**

**Sorry chapter 4 is so late… life happened! I will have chapter 5 up this weekend.**

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**Chapter 4: The Enigma**

**Edward**

I knew everyone would be waiting for me at the house for the Forks Inquisition, so I started walking, away from the house. Instead of taking the path through the forest that led to town, I took a more hidden path towards the river. There was a quiet little spot that I like to go when I needed to think. I found it when I was twelve and needed to get away from everyone. I had just been diagnosed with OCD and needed to think about what that meant to me.

Bella left. We spent the last half hour waiting for Emmett to finish on her truck walking around the yard and talking about trivial things. I think we both said more than we had intended on saying. I know it was hard for me to talk about my mental issues, and speaking about the death of a family member is always difficult.

And she was still an enigma.

I don't know what made her different from the others, but she was. I had _no_ compulsions while I was around her. I had no unjustified fears of being judged; I knew she was judging me. She did not try to be nice or friendly. At times she was down right cruel! I knew what she was thinking because she always told me, and it showed in her brown eyes. Eyes that were like windows to her soul, and her soul was … fascinating.

What made her different? What made her so appealing to me? Why couldn't I stop thinking about her? Why do I want to run to her house and see if she made it home yet? I didn't even know this girl, and the first time we spoke, neither one of us left good impressions. How can I be so infatuated with her?

I had only questions when I finally arrived at the clearing. I sat on the grass in the middle of the clearing and looked around. Alone. The quiet was peaceful. I knew the family was talking about me. I knew Bella was probably talking about me, or at least thinking about me. I knew everyone thought I was some sort of freak. But here, I didn't care. Here no one could hurt me. No one could hold me back. No one could watch me fail, or laugh behind my back, or snicker at me when I walked by. Here, no one I knew cared about my existence.

It was absolutely wonderful.

Peaceful.

Beautiful.

It was an almost perfect circle in the middle of nowhere. There were little purple flowers that popped up everywhere in the green grass. The grass wasn't very tall, only reached my ankles, but it made the ground soft, I could walk almost completely silent if I wanted to. There was a log just off to one of the sides of the clearing from a downed tree. It provided a good sitting place, but I preferred to sit on the soft grass, which had a calming effect on me.

I thought about Bella and her sister. Was her sister the reason why she was so angry all the time? What was she like before her sister's illness? What was her sister like? Did she have Bella's chocolate brown eyes and hair too?

I sat and contemplated my new obsession and wondered what it would be like to have a friend outside of the family. She would be my only friend in years since I had driven all of my childhood friends out of my life long ago. I couldn't get over the feeling that they all actually hated me and were just being fake. I know intellectually, now at least, that it was just my PPD, but it doesn't make it any easier to deal with.

I was already missing Bella. Walking with her, she smelled like a clear spring day, and looked like a porcelain doll. I noticed she didn't wear make up. She had a pure, natural look that suited her perfectly.

I stayed until it started to get dark. I couldn't put off talking to the family any longer. It wouldn't do any good anyway. I got up, brushed the dirt off and started walking back.

Esme met me outside, probably worried about me since I was gone for so long.

"Are you ok Edward?" she asked holding her hand out to me. I nodded as I took her hand and walked through the door.

"I don't have any answers, Mom. I don't know how I was able to run out so quickly this morning, how I was able to see her and talk to her and not be …_myself_. I just don't know."

"It's alright Edward. We're just happy that you got to experience it," said Carlisle. "It's the first step to recovery."

I nodded. Everyone has been waiting for this day for a very long time. "May I go upstairs now?" I asked. Carlisle nodded. I could see Emmett and Jasper behind him making kissing faces at each other. I ignored them and walked up to my room.

Alice was on the bottom step to the third floor, waiting for me. She had gone shopping with Rosalie this morning so she didn't get to witness the miraculous event herself. I'm sure she had plenty of questions of her own.

"Alice," I nodded at her.

"Edward."

I sighed. "Fine, let's go." She bounced up and ran up the stairs to my room and waited impatiently for me to follow.

"So, tell me everything Edward. Something you may think is inconsequential may not be," said Alice sternly.

"There really isn't much to tell. Emse came up and told me Bella was here and the only thing I thought about was seeing her. Once I did see her, all I thought about was 'what the hell am I doing?' I don't know what else to tell you, Alice. I like her, but I don't know why."

"I'd like to meet her. I want to know what has my little brother all in knots about."

"I don't think that's a good idea. I'm still getting used to this myself. It feels natural talking to her. I don't … I can't explain how I feel when I'm with her. It's like I'm anxious, but not the normal way that I get anxious. I_ like_ being with her." I sat on the couch in my room that faced a bay window that looked out towards the creek.

"Edward, I think this is great. You should ask her to have lunch with you sometime. On Monday, just invite her to sit with us. It'll be great! Maybe we can figure out what makes her different from others for you!" Alice was practically jumping out of her skin from joy at the idea.

I shook my head. "No. I need to do this myself. _If_ I'm getting better, then I need to figure it out and deal with it. It's not a group effort Alice. I'm going to take a shower and go to bed. I'll see you in the morning." I stood by the door waiting for her to leave.

"Fine. But it won't be long before I'm sure we will all be good friends!" she predicted before storming out.

If only I had her confidence.

**Bella**

"Why don't you go to the beach today, Bells," said Charlie. We were sitting in the kitchen eating cereal for breakfast. I tried to make eggs and toast, but ended up burning it all. I just couldn't concentrate.

"I don't know Dad. I was thinking of doing laundry today."

"Yeah, well it's a good thing you can't burn laundry," he said with a smirk. I growled at him. "Seriously, you can use some fun time. Go hang out with the kids and get to know them. You just might make some new friends. Besides, I wouldn't want you to fall in the washer or something."

I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out like a five year old. "Fine Dad. I'll go play nice today."

Charlie smiled in triumph.

I growled.

He left to go fishing with his friends and I went upstairs to call Jessica. Between the two of us, I'm sure we could get a big enough group to go that I could hide in plain sight.

"Hey Jessica, it's Bella. I was wondering if you had any plans today?"

"No, why? Did you want to do something?" came the all to cheerful voice on the other end of the phone.

"I was wondering if you wanted to get a group together to go to the beach today? I know it's last minute, but I thought it would be fun to get out," I said trying to sound as cheerful as she did.

"Sure, sure. I'll start calling. Why don't we meet over at Jacob Black's shop. I'll have everyone meet us around ten. This will give some of them time to actually wake up! I'll see you there and don't worry about calling anyone else, I'll get it together!" With that said all in a single breath, she hung up.

I had an hour to get there so I got my iPod out of my purse that was hanging on the coat rack and turned the volume up high. I cleaned up the kitchen and got together some stuff to take along for a picnic. It was cloudy like it usually was in Forks, but we could still try to have fun.

Yeah. Right.

I tried to think only about the task in front of me. I didn't want to let my mind wander anymore. I already hit my head on the medicine cabinet, stubbed my toe on the bathroom door, tripped on the stairs coming down for breakfast, and slammed my hand in a kitchen drawer. Who knows what could happen to me next if I didn't start paying attention.

Soda's; check. Chips; check. Red vines; check. Blanket; check. Towels; check. Green eyes; check.

_Wait. What?_

I had to stop thinking of those glowing green eyes. And the bronze hair. And the long fingers that kept playing in the bronze hair. If you get past the fact that he's a nut job, he's perfect.

_But why is he perfect?_

I looked at the clock and realized I had five minutes to get to Jacob's place and meet everyone. I ran out the door with my picnic basket and raced to my truck. I drove faster than I usually did to make it there in time.

xxxxxxxx

"Hey Angela? Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure Bella. Anything."

"Why doesn't Edward have any friends? Didn't he grow up here?" I asked quietly. We were walking along the beach looking at tide pools. It was cold so we decided to take a walk to stay warm while the guys tried to get a bonfire started.

"He did grow up here and we were all friends. But no one could deal with his … illness. It didn't help that he flaunted his IQ to everyone before that. He looked down on everyone, like he was to good to be our friend. He was constantly thinking that we were holding him back, that we were out to get him. Nothing we said or did made him feel any better. He just drove everyone away." Angela shook her head at her memories. She looked sad.

"Were you good friends with him?"

"We were. Then he told me that he didn't want me around anymore. We were just starting junior high and everyone thought that we were… well, let's just say we were close."

"Oh. I'm sorry. I'm not stepping on …"

"No! No, it's not like that," she quickly interrupted. "Not anymore. I have Ben now. I think we were more meant for each other than Edward and I were. I have hoped that Edward would find someone that could make him happy. Someone that he could trust." Angela gave me a quick look.

"What was he like before his PPD changed him?"

""He was always a mystery to everyone. But he was my best friend. We did almost everything together. He was quiet for the most part, but very caring. Intense is the best way to describe him, even then. His intelligence was all about what he learned in books. He had no real concept of people or how life could be something other than pure facts. I helped him with that. He would come to me with questions about why was so and so playing this. What was the reason for that. If he couldn't find an answer in a book, it made no sense to him. He only felt secure enough in our friendship to ask me these questions. Then he started to pull away. Came to me less and less. Started questioning my motives. Saying things like if he couldn't find the answer in a book then I was lying to him. Nothing helped. Even after Dr. Cullen put him on medication, it didn't really help. It was his intelligence that finally won over the PPD."

"What do you mean? He still has PPD. He always will."

"Yes, but he was able to see some reasoning. Apparently, his PPD isn't as bad as it could be. He went to psychiatrists and counseling and had the medication. All of it eventually helped him control it. But he still didn't want to be friends with anyone. Dr. and Mrs. Cullen put in the glass walls to help him see that there was nothing to fear. That there were no secret societies, or whatever it was that was out to get him. He never wanted to be friends with anyone outside of his family. Even after the Hale's moved in. Nothing broke that wall. Until you showed up." Angela spoke quietly. This was the most I've heard her say in one session than ever before.

Just then James and Mike came running up to us. Mike tugged on Angela's jacket and James was probably going to do the same, but ended up knocking me down. I scraped my hand on a rock.

"Dammit James! You know the rocks are slippery here. What the hell were you thinking?" I said coldly.

"Sorry Bella. I didn't think about it," he said contritely as he helped me up.

"Damn straight you didn't think! You never do."

"Are you ok Bella?" asked Angela.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's head back." I had a lot to think about.

After the bonfire and the snacks were gone, we all headed home. It was getting late and I just wanted to go home, take a hot shower and crawl into bed.

That's exactly what I did to. I thought about what Angela told me. I thought about my talk with Edward yesterday. I thought about how life in Forks was more complicated than I had ever intended on it being. I thought about green eyes and bronze messy hair.

Then I _saw_ green eyes and bronze messy hair. It was outside my window. _He_ was outside my window.

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**Reviews are better than green eyes!**


	5. Chapter 5: You, Me Us?

**_Thank you all for the great reviews! This chapter is a little longer than the others. I hope you like it. _**

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**Chapter 5: You, Me… Us?**

**Bella**

I didn't know how to react. Should I be scared? Should I be pissed? Should I be excited?

I got up and walked to the window and pulled it all the way open and went back to my bed. I watched him as he climbed in my window, watching me. He stayed standing by the open window while I sat on my bed. We stayed like this for what seemed like an hour before I found my voice.

"What are you doing here?" I said in a quiet voice that surprisingly didn't shake.

"I, uh… I wanted to see you," Edward stammered in a whisper.

"You couldn't wait until tomorrow? You couldn't call me? You couldn't knock on my door?" I threw questions at him scared and excited at the same time.

"I heard you went to the beach today. I wanted to make sure you were alright," he answered, as his face grew red.

"You couldn't call?" I asked again.

"I… I needed to see for myself that you were ok. I don't climb up until I think you're in bed."

"You… don't… You've been here before!" My loud whisper was a statement. Somehow this didn't disturb me as much as it should have, but what did he watch me do? Does he watch me sleep?

"I like to watch you sleep. You look so peaceful and happy," he said quietly like he was reading my mind. His face was an amazing shade of red.

"Why? What else do you do? How long have you been doing it? Do I need to tell Charlie about you? Are you some kind of peeping tom?" Again throwing questions at him, this time to hide my nervousness.

"No, I don't watch you do anything other than sleep. I know it's wrong, but I can't help it. I know that you are usually asleep fifteen minutes after you turn on your classical music. I know that you have stacks of medical books there in the corner by your bed," he said pointing to them. "I know that you don't like the rain, the sound makes you restless at night." Then in a rush he said, "I know that I shouldn't be here now, but I just _had_ to see you. I'm not sure why, it felt like one of my compulsions, but stronger. Like I was drawn here." He shook his head. "I know I'm rambling on and on, but I don't know what to say. How do I explain that in essence, I _am _a peeping tom? I don't mean to be. I give you privacy, except for when you sleep." He looked up at me before quickly dropping his eyes. He looked so sad, like he just found out his puppy died. "I should go. I'm sorry Bella."

He was half way out the window before I said anything.

"Edward. Don't go." It came out as barely a whisper. Somehow he heard me. I wasn't sure why I wanted him to stay, but I did. I noticed as he climbed back in that he was wet from the rain. I went to my bathroom and got him a towel. I tossed it to him, not wanting to get to close just yet.

He took the towel and rubbed his hair with it. When he was done, he ran his long fingers through his bronze hair a few times. I sat down on the edge of my bed and watched him. His black leather jacket was sparkling in the lamplight from the raindrops. His black boots were shiny from being wet. I motioned to the rocking chair I had by the window for him to sit on.

He sat on the chair, not quite in it. He looked like he was ready to bolt at the first sign of … anything.

I got up and knelt in front of him, looking him in the eyes the whole time. Those mesmerizing green eyes. Eyes that looked frightened and excited at the same time. But not suspicious. No, he didn't believe I was capable of doing him harm. I wondered why that was, but continued my action.

I untied his left boot and pulled it off. I then untied the right boot and pulled it off. Watching the green eyes the entire time. I got up and put the boots by the window. When I turned away from him, I heard a quiet whisper.

"Bella, why are you different from the others? Why can I let you do things that I can't let my own mother do? Why do I _trust you_?"

"I have never lied to you. I have never done anything other than be completely honest with you. I hated you after the way you treated me in class that first day and I let you know it. I don't pretend. I learned that from my sister. To always be honest and truthful in actions _and_ words." I watched him as he nodded slightly. "Tell me if there is anything I do that makes you uncomfortable."

I slowly walked back over to him. I gently took his hand in mine and pulled him up. I heard his breath catch when I touched him. I stopped and looked up at him. He was staring at our hands. I pulled on his jacket sleeve to free his arm, then grabbed the jacket by the neck and pulled it down his other arm. The whole time watching the green eyes that were watching me. Once his jacket was off I hung it on the coat rack I had by the door with a plastic mat under it to catch the water dripping off of it. I went back to him and gently pushed him back into the rocking chair.

"Better?" I asked. He nodded still watching me. "Why did you want to check on me? You said that you heard I went to the beach today and that you wanted to check to make sure I was ok. Why?"

"I'm not sure. I just wanted to make sure that no one hurt you while I couldn't watch you. I wanted to make sure that you were safe. I didn't hear about you being at the beach until Angela called and talked to Alice. Alice told me that you went there and that Angela really liked you. I was good friends with Angela before I got sick, but I was never protective with her like I am with you."

"Edward, will you tell me about your routines? About your compulsions? What's it like for you?"

"It takes me an hour and a half every morning before I can leave my room. I have to make my bed as soon as I'm out of it. That takes five minutes for it to be good enough for me. I then spend ten minutes just brushing my teeth. Then another ten minutes on flossing. I spend forty-five minutes in the shower scrubbing. I then take another twenty minutes to get dressed and out of my room. When I go to bed, it's the same routine. It's like having someone constantly whispering in my ear that it's not good enough. That it needs to be better. Except lately, I've had less and less compulsions." He looked me straight in the eye and said, "Since I met you."

We sat in silence after that. Compulsions are not easy to break and take a surreal amount of willpower to ignore. But what Edward was telling me, was that he didn't even think about it. Could I help him like I wanted to help Jane? Would he allow me?

Now was not the time to bring it up. If anything went wrong, it would surely bring Charlie into the mix. We sat there, Edward on the rocking chair and me on my bed for the next four hours, talking. We talked about everything. From our favorite subjects in school to our favorite colors. We talked about my time at the beach yesterday and how much I liked Angela and we talked about his family.

When we grew too tired to stay up any longer, I pulled a blanket out from my closet and handed it to him before lying down on my bed. And we slept. Edward on the rocking chair and me on my bed.

It was peaceful.

It was comforting.

**Edward**

It was perfect.

I don't know if there was such a thing as the perfect night, but I just had it. I couldn't believe I got caught watching her. I knew I timed it right so that she should have been asleep, but for some reason she wasn't.

And she didn't scream.

And she didn't kick me out.

And she talked to me.

All night.

Just before five o'clock in the morning, I climbed out of her window and ran home. It took me less than an hour to get there. It only took a half hour to get out my bedroom door instead of my usual time. I like this routine better; I got to spend more time with Bella this way.

At breakfast, I ignored the looks from everyone. They all knew that I wasn't home all night.

Stupid glass walls.

I was beginning to think privacy was a good thing. That I didn't need to know what everyone was doing if it meant that they didn't know everything I was doing.

I went out to my Volvo and waited for everyone to pile in. I think it may be time for Rosalie to start driving her car to school. Alice jumped in the front seat with me while the others piled in the back. Normally Emmett would sit in front since he was the biggest, but tiny Alice beat him to it.

"Hey Edward! Did you have a good night?" she asked innocently.

"Yes, I did Alice."

"Were you with Bella?"

"Yes, I was."

"Did you talk to her this time?"

"Yes, I did."

"What did you talk about?" she pushed.

"Lots of things." I knew she wanted details but I just didn't want to tell her yet.

"Edward," she sighed. "Will you tell me anything?"

"No. Not yet Alice. I need time. I don't know what this means yet. I need to figure it out before I bring everyone in on it." As I said this, I saw the others through the rearview mirror staring at me. "It's really not a big deal. Not yet anyway. We're just friends."

"But Edward," whined Alice.

"No, Alice. Not now. Please, just drop it," I begged. She sat back in her seat sulking. I knew she wouldn't leave it alone for too long, I just wanted it to be long enough to talk to Bella today.

I had no idea what it was between us yet. _Were_ we friends? Were we _more_ than friends? I never had a girlfriend, and I really didn't want one now. I had too much to worry about right now to even think about it. I just hope she didn't think I was looking for a girlfriend. Should I say something to her about it? Should I leave it alone?

All during my classes, I couldn't pay attention to what was going on around me. I contemplated what I wanted from her. What I needed from her. What I was without her. I waited impatiently for lunch. I would see her then.

Her.

She was the only one in the world that I was concerned about now. Nobody else mattered. I had to know if she was my friend. I had to know what she thought about me. She was all that mattered.

When Mr. Varner let us out early to lunch, I could have kissed the man, if the thought of physical contact didn't make me cringe. I practically ran to the cafeteria to secure a table that was usually left empty. I watched everyone walk through the doors, looking for a particular set of chocolate brown eyes and chocolate brown flowing hair. Thinking about her chocolate coloring made my mouth water. My mind works in mysterious ways.

I finally saw her walk in and look towards the table I usually sat at. When she didn't see me there, she started looking around. When our eyes met, I motioned for her to join me. I watched as she turned towards Angela before turning back to me and walked straight for my table.

Suddenly I felt panic rising from the pit of my stomach. What if she was mad about last night? What if she really thought I was a creepy peeping tom and was going to tell me to stay away? I started fidgeting and looked down. I couldn't meet her gaze, not until I knew how she felt. Would she yell and make a scene?

"Hello Edward. How are you?" she asked quietly as she sat down.

"Fine," I mumbled. I felt the sweat from my anxiety start to collect at the bottom of my neck.

"Edward, look at me please." She sat there until I looked up at her clear brown eyes. "It's ok. I'm not upset about yesterday. I'm not going to throw a fit. Nothing has changed since this morning." She reached over and put her hand on mine again. My breath caught at the sensation that her touch brought. It was electrifying. I started to calm down. I knew she was telling the truth. I was getting worked up over nothing.

"I'm fine." I gave her a crooked smile. "How was your morning?" I asked more confidently.

"It was good. You left early though. I could have driven you home so you wouldn't have to walk back."

"I didn't want to wake you. I know you were tired. Bella, I have to ask. Please don't think I'm presumptuous or that I have grandiose ideas about this. But," I took a deep breath and looked down. I couldn't look her in the eye. "But, what are we? Are we friends?"

"Edward, look at me. I really hate it when you don't look at me. I need you to see that I'm being honest and the best way to do that is to look at me." She waited until I finally looked at her. "We're friends. I'm not entirely certain that I like being watched during my private times, but I do like you. I'm not looking for any kind of relationship outside of friendship. I've never had a boyfriend, and I never intended to find one. I have never been really successful at anything, but I try my damnedest to do something once I set my mind to it. I don't want to 'fix' you; I don't think you're 'broken'. I do want to be your friend. I'm more than happy with that."

She was so sincere that I couldn't think anything other than that was her truth. Her truth didn't always mean it would be my truth, but I believed her.

"I'm not the best person to be friends with. I can be difficult at best, and down right horrible at worst."

"I can deal with it. It's too late, I already think of you as a friend. You can't get rid of me so easily anymore," she said with a smile that put the never shining sun to shame.

Just then James and Victoria came up to our table, behind Bella.

"Hey Bella, why are you hangin' with the fucking freak? Can't handle real men?" James laughed. I wanted to punch him in the face, but I couldn't make myself do it.

"Hey James, Victoria. I can handle real men just fine. If you happen to turn into one, please let me know." She smiled at them as James walked away indignant that she would insult him. "What an idiot. That asshole knocked me down at the beach the other day, now he's drooling all over that redhead, and insulting me. I should just kick his ass now and get it over with, but I know that won't solve anything with him. He'll just keep coming back for more." She sighed and shook her head.

"He knocked you down? Are you alright? Did you get hurt?" Immediately I was taken with a fear that she had gotten hurt.

"Not really. I just scraped my hand on the rocks by the tide pools. Nothing serious. Come on, we're going to be late for Anatomy if we don't hurry." Neither one of us ate anything, but I saw that she had brought her book bag with her and I wondered if I should offer to carry it for her.

She took the decision out of my hands by handing me her bag, with a big, bright smile.

"Look here, it's just a little scratch. I put some ointment on it to keep it clean already," she said showing me her left hand with three shallow cuts on it. It didn't look dirty or infected.

When we got to our class, I was immediately taken by the fact that we were the last ones to arrive. One of my worst fears; everyone watching me. But they weren't just watching me.

They were watching us.

I didn't mind that so much.

I was the freak with a friend now.

We sat to our lab table just as Mr. Banner came in with a cart. This time the cart contained a slide projector. Another fun day of slides on human musculature. I was extremely grateful for having the back of the classroom to ourselves.

Bella slipped me a note.

_Did you get in trouble for not being home last night?_

I wrote my answer down and passed the note back to her.

_No, they just want to know what happened. I don't have to tell them where I was, they already know. They just want to know how it went. Part of the "no secrets" rule in the house._

Bella handed me the note with a smirk.

_(Bella) They don't have a problem with you being out all night with a girl?_

_(Edward) No, I'm old enough to make my own decisions. They know me well enough that I wouldn't do anything… not thought out._

_(Bella) What does that mean?_

_(Edward) It means that I have parents that trust me. Doesn't Charlie trust you?_

_(Bella) Yes, but it's different having a daughter I'm sure._

I looked at her unsure of what we were talking about at this point. She smirked and grabbed the note back.

_(Bella) I know that the Hale's live in your house; do they share a room with your brother and sister?_

_(Edward) It was decided by both sets of parents that when each couple turned eighteen, and they were still in love and willing, they could share a room. Provided they stayed celibate until then._

_(Bella) Who enforced that? How could anyone be sure that nothing happened until they moved in together?_

"Mr. Cullen. Miss Swan. Would you care to share with the class?" Mr. Banner asked as he walked up to us.

"No, Mr. Banner. Edward was just trying to explain to me the difference of smooth muscle and skeletal muscle. Sorry to interrupt." Bella lied so smoothly, I don't think I would be able to tell if she was lying to me or not. But then she turned and looked at me and the lie was written all over her face and her brown eyes. She really didn't like lying.

"Ok, but stop passing papers back and forth." He turned around and started on his lecture again.

"Sorry," she whispered as quietly as she could. I smiled back at her. It was ok.

Everything was ok now.

We were friends. I had a real friend now.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I met Bella after her gym class to walk her to her truck. She looked upset about something.

"What's wrong?" I asked immediately concerned that she got hurt.

"Nothing. Victoria is just a bitch. Nothing to worry about. Are you coming over tonight?" she asked.

"If you want me to I will."

"Sure, but either bring your car or wait for me to drive you home. You don't need to run almost ten miles home in the wee hours of the morning."

We were in the school parking lot now. I looked up to see Alice and Jasper waving to me and pointing behind me. I turned around to see James' fist coming at me. I ducked just in time for it to miss me.

I hear a scream as I feel a knee connect with my face. I didn't know if I screamed or if it was Bella, but the blinding red pain definitely made me want to scream. I looked up holding my nose to see Emmett and Jasper tackling James to the ground. Bella was standing in front of me screaming at him.

"What's your problem asshole?" she screamed. "If you have a problem with me, then come to ME!" she shouted. I saw her whole body shaking. I forgot my own pain and grabbed her.

"Are you ok? Did he hurt you?" I shouted to her. If he hurt her…

"I'm fine. He's just an ass," she spat. "Victoria got what she deserved! Don't you ever think for a minute that I regret what I said to her! I told her nothing but the truth, James. If you _ever_ come after Edward again for something that_ I_ said, you will have to deal with me!" She then kicked him in his crotch before Emmett and Jasper let him go.

"You go girl!" Emmett put his fist out for a fist bump. "Maybe I should have left him to you," he chuckled.

Alice came up with a wad of tissues from the car and Bella seemed to calm down as we walked away from James.

"So, are you going to tell me why I just got hit in the face?" I asked her.

She looked apologetic as she carefully pulled my hands away from my bloody nose. "You should get that looked at. Make sure it's not broken."

"I'm going to have Carlisle look at it, and you're avoiding my question."

She sighed and looked from me to Emmett, Jasper, Alice and Rosalie who had caught up to us. "Victoria came up to me in gym and said that you were a horrible lay. I told her that she should know who was the horrible lay since she slept with anything with a second head. She didn't like it very much so she threw a ball at my head. I turned around an tripped her." She shrugged nonchalantly. "I figured she got what she deserved. I have no idea why James would go after you."

Emmett laughed again. "I guess she never got over you, huh."

"What do you mean?" Bella asked.

I sighed "I'll tell you later. Right now, my nose really hurts. I'll come by later and we'll talk. Please, go home. I'm not leaving until I know you are on your way home."

She didn't like the idea of waiting very much, but since the blood was still pouring down my face, she could hardly argue. I handed Emmett the keys to the Volvo and tried to smile at her she got in her truck and drove off.

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**Reviews are appreciated more than bloody noses! :)**


	6. Chapter 6: Breakthrough

_Thank you for all of the reviews and the support! I'm really happy that you're all enjoying this story._

_This one is all BPOV because I wanted to know what was going through her head during this time. I'll go back to EPOV for the next chapter._

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**Chapter 6: Breakthrough**

**Bella**

I paced back and forth in the kitchen. I was waiting for the steaks to finish and worrying about Edward. I had to set a timer for the first time because I knew I would burn the steaks if I didn't.

I wanted to be sure he was ok. I _needed_ to know that he was ok. I had to know what Emmett meant by Victoria not getting over him. I thought Edward never had a girlfriend and that Angela was the closest he got to having one.

_Did Edward lie to me? Did Angela not know about Victoria?_

_Why did it bother me so much?_

I jumped as the bell on the timer sounded and the phone rang at the same time. I grabbed the phone and answered it while I turned the steaks.

"Hello?"

"Hi Bella! How are you? Do you hate it in Forks yet? Ready to come home? Are you making friends?" It was my mother. I sighed and tried to answer her but she started going on and on about how her cruise was and how wonderful Phil was to her.

The entire conversation was one sided and lasted five minutes. I didn't blame her though. I wasn't really in the mood to talk and I knew she was finally happy. The conversation finished at the same time as the steaks, which was good since I didn't set the timer again.

I was still distracted during dinner and I was glad that Charlie didn't seem to notice. We ate in silence and I did the dishes in silence. When I headed for the stairs, he stopped me.

"Hey Bells, you got a minute?" He seemed anxious.

"Yeah Dad, what's up?"

"Well, I heard that there was some trouble at school today. That James and Edward got into a fight and you were there." He looked at me sternly, nothing but concern in his brown eyes. "I want you to stay away from James. He's nothing but trouble and I don't want you getting mixed up with him. I can't get into details because his juvenile file has been closed, but I want you to stay far away from him."

"Not a problem, Dad. I don't much like him anyway. He came up behind Edward and punched him. I don't even know why." I wasn't surprised he heard about the fight.

"Alright, just stay away from him as much as you can. Good night, honey."

"Good night, Dad."

I went to my room and worked on some homework, knowing that I wasn't going to get much done until I spoke with Edward. I kept looking at my clock. It wasn't moving fast enough.

Finally, a little after eight, and tired of reading the same page of my history book for the fourth time; I heard a car that could only be his. I made sure the window was open all the way, even though I had checked it several times already. When he finally made it to the window, I practically pulled him in.

As he stumbled in my room, trying to be quiet, I saw his face. His nose was swollen and bruised. His eyes also looked swollen. I went to my bathroom and put a washcloth under the cold water and handed it to him. He put it on his face with a grateful look.

"Are you ok, Edward? Your nose isn't broken is it?" I asked concerned.

"No, it's not. I'm fine. Just bruised. Carlisle told me to keep ice on it to keep the swelling down." He sat on his rocking chair in the corner and I went to sit on my bed. I looked at him patiently; he knew what I was waiting for. "You want to know what Emmett meant by his comment."

I nodded.

"Well, Victoria tried to tell everyone that she was my girlfriend when she noticed that I was pulling away from my friends. She always pursued me and flirted with me. She said once that nothing would make her happier than if she lost her virginity to me. I told her that I wasn't interested and to please leave me alone. So, she started telling everyone that she slept with me and that I was horrible. She didn't want to look like she couldn't get anywhere with me and that she couldn't get what she wanted. So she lied. But she keeps the lie going by bringing it up once in a while. All of my friends, current and previous, know that I could never sleep with her." He looked at me, embarrassed.

"Must be the lack of sunshine making everyone nuts around here," I muttered. He must have heard me because he started laughing. I rolled my eyes and got comfortable. I felt better knowing that it was nothing. I also knew he was telling the truth. I pointed to the blanket that was hanging on the back of the chair and put the remains of my homework away. I would finish it tomorrow in my free period.

I crawled into bed, already in my pajamas, and turned off the light. For a minute I saw nothing but darkness, but before I could panic, I heard the bathroom door open and light spilled into the room from the night-light.

"Thank you," I whispered. "I never did get over my fear of the dark."

"Why? What happened?"

"I don't remember the actual event since I was real little still, but I remember the fear. We had a home invasion incident in Phoenix. Renee had just put me to bed, turned off the light and closed the door. I heard her scream and a lot of banging. Apparently, Renee was in the kitchen and started beating the guy with her cast iron pan. The cops came and arrested him, but I never got over that fear. I've slept with a light on ever since." I shuddered, remembering the fear and the distant sounds.

"Is that why you play music too?" came a quiet, silky voice in the dark.

"Yeah, so I won't hear anything if there's ever any banging going on," I laughed. "We make an interesting pair don't we; we both think we have people after us, just for different reasons."

"Will you tell me about your mom? You almost never talk about her," asked Edward.

"She's a little air-headed sometimes, almost childlike in her views. She's my best friend, my big sister, my mom, all wrapped up in one. I take care of the practical things like cooking and making sure the bills get paid, but she takes care of the real life situations. Like the intruder, she fought him off and called the police. I have anger issues and she has passive issues. Together we always seem to manage to get what we needed." I sighed into the near darkness. "I miss her. She finally found someone she can be happy with and I came here so she could have it. She called today and it just proves that I made the right choice. Phil is good for her. And she gets to dress up a lot, " I laughed.

"Do you think she would take you back if you wanted to go?"

"Of course she would! But I don't want to go back. It's time for her to be a grown up and time for me to finish school. It's the right time for both of us."

We talked for a few more hours, Edward asking personal questions like what are my favorite foods, my favorite colors and such. Of course I made him answer the same questions. When he told me that he's never had enchilada's, I promised to make him some.

When we were yawning more than talking, we both slept; Edward in the rocking chair with a blanket over him and me in my bed.

When I woke up in the morning, he was gone and it was absolutely quiet. I didn't turn my music on last night. And I slept. It was scary and good at the same time. Maybe I can get over my monsters.

I got ready for school and ran out of the door, running late. It was really foggy out and I had to concentrate on how to walk so I wouldn't fall or run into anything. So it was a shock that I almost ran into Edward. He was on the curb with his silver Volvo.

"Would you like a ride?"

"Uh… sure." I looked towards the truck and then back at him. Charlie would notice and I'll have to explain it to him eventually. Edward held the passenger door open for me and I slid into the warm car. I didn't realize how cold I was until I felt the warmth.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked as he got in the driver's side.

"I did. Did you?"

"Yes," he said with a small smile.

"Where is everyone else?"

"Rose is driving today. She's wanted an excuse to drive her new car for sometime now, so this gave me the opportunity to pick you up. I'm sure your truck is great, but it does eat up a lot of gas."

I laughed. "You just want an excuse to pick me up. Don't worry, you don't need one. I'm your friend Edward. That's all the excuse you need."

He gave me a big goofy grin at that.

"Really? We're friends?"

"Yes, Edward. We're friends." I couldn't help but smile back at him.

When we got to school, I couldn't believe how quickly he jumped out of the car. Next thing I know, he's opening my door. He looked at me, uncertain that he did the right thing so I smiled at him and said "Thank you" as politely as I could.

He walked me to my first class and didn't even look uncomfortable at all of the stares and glares we got. I was proud of him and scared for him, because if he realized that his worst fears were actually happening, he could have one big freak out. _Everyone_ was talking about us.

Tyler glared because he had been trying to ask me out since the first day of school. Mike looked like someone kidnapped his puppy for the same reason. Jessica always had a crush on Edward and had said on many occasions that she thought he was faking just to keep everyone away.

Emmett walked by snickering, Alice had the biggest, smuggest grin, and Angela looked happy. Rosalie looked bored.

I spent the rest of the morning trying to ignore everyone and hoping Edward was alright with the sudden attention.

In the hallway on my way to my fourth period Spanish class, Victoria tripped me. I landed face first in front of a crowd of kids who all started laughing. I got up and glared at her. It would do me no good to smash her face in here. To many people who could take her side when the principle came in the picture. I walked to my seat in class and contemplated tripping_ her_ when she walked by me to get to her seat.

All during class, I heard snickers and had things thrown at me. I ignored her, growing hot and pissed from the abuse. When the bell rang, I shot up out of my desk and out the door.

I wanted to run.

I wanted to stay.

I hesitated at the door, just long enough to see Edward coming towards me in the hall. That decided me. I couldn't let Edward get in the middle of some petty high school girl crap. I put on a smile and intercepted him. I turned him back around towards the cafeteria before Victoria could do any more damage.

"What's wrong?" asked Edward almost immediately.

"Nothing. Everything's fine. Let's get some lunch and sit with your family today." I figured no one wanted to get on Emmett's bad side.

We sat down just in time to see James and Victoria come in. They came straight towards us. I groaned and kicked Emmett under the table to get his attention.

"Ouch! Who did that?" He boomed. Then he saw them. I heard a growl come from him. "What do you want?"

"I just wanted to say that I'm happy for the two love birds. Apparently, they're the talk of the school." James looked at Edward and Victoria sneered at me. "Edward, would you be so kind as to tell your girlfriend to leave mine alone? She was harassing Victoria in Spanish today. And I think you have a little something on your nose." They turned around and left chuckling to themselves.

Edward looked like the living dead. He was breathing, but so pale, he had no color to him. The freak out I was afraid of was going to hit. _Damn them!_

The Cullen's and Hale's formed a circle around us, waiting to see what happened.

"Edward. Edward, look at me. Look at me, Edward." I waited until he was looking at my concerned eyes. His green eyes were wild and frightened. I held my hand up in front of him. "Edward, take my hand. Now, don't worry about anything else. Just think of my hand. Think about what it feels like. Is my hand big? Is it small? Is it warm? Is it cold? Think of nothing but my hand, Edward." As I was speaking, I could see reason coming back to his eyes and color to his cheeks. "Do you know me, Edward?" He nodded. "What's my name?"

"Bella."

"Good. Now, let's get out of here." I got up and pulled him up with me. "I have never lied to, Edward. I have never been anything but honest with you. I won't let anyone hurt you. Neither will your family. We're all just going to go outside. We're going to get you somewhere that no one can see you but us. Ok?" He nodded again.

We walked outside, Alice and Rose behind Edward, Emmett and Jasper in front. I walked beside him, holding his hand.

Once we were outside behind the gym, we stopped and Edward slid down to the ground, his back against the rough brick wall. He was still holding my hand.

"How did you do that, Bella?" asked Alice. "We've never been able to reason with him when one of his episodes hit."

"I read a lot. I learned that people like Edward need to deal with the real, the physical. If they are allowed to stay in their own mind, they will think of the worse possible scenario and live it. He can see you and hear you but he couldn't make the connection between what was real and what wasn't. By making him look at me, someone he knows and trusts, by making him answer a simple question, and by making _him feel me_, I was able to make him focus _on_ _me_. If I had asked him to look at you and then hold my hand, the connection was split, therefore causing the reality to slip." I looked at Edward and saw him looking at our hands.

"But, no one can touch him."

I looked up when Jasper whispered. "What do you mean?"

"His OCD makes it impossible for him to touch anyone. He has to wash his hands several times afterwards," said Alice.

I looked at them, one by one and realized it was true. I had never seen anyone touch him, not even his parents that day at his house.

"He let me touch him before. Yesterday, when he got hit."

"You're the only one. We thought that he was just in too much pain to notice. But this isn't a fluke. He's not freaking out over it. He's not freaking out at all." Emmett said quietly.

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**Reviews are better than petty high school girl crap!!! Good, bad, stop writing... anything would be great!**


	7. Chapter 7:Sometimes We Wait For A Reason

Sorry for the long wait... between work and remodeling our home, it took me longer than I expected to get this chapter out. I hope you like it!

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**Chapter 7: Sometimes We Wait For A Reason**

**Edward**

Hell.

_I was in hell. Everyone was talking about me. Everyone was out to get me. Everyone wanted to hurt me. _The hated voice in my head kept telling me over and over again.

I had been thrown into hell to burn forever under their scrutiny. Their hated stares.

Then it happened. I thought it would finally be the one small thing to completely break me, that one last piece of the puzzle to unravel all of the single threads holding my mind together.

She touched me. She held my hand.

She brought me _back _from hell.

It felt … _good._

It felt _right. _Natural. Warm. Exciting.

I couldn't stop looking at her hand in mine. Her fingers were long and slender, her nails short, and she had a freckle on her left hand. I traced her hand lightly with mine. It was the single most satisfying feeling I had ever experienced. I was calm, but excited. I felt like my heart should be beating right out of my chest and my breathing should be erratic. But I was still calm.

I looked at her hand. Bella's hand. My hand.

_Our _hands.

I smiled and looked up at her. I saw concern in her eyes. _She _was worried about _me._ She should never have to worry about me. It seemed wrong. It didn't fit the way I felt. The only person who should be concerned is me, for her safety. I know what James is capable of and I know how persistent Victoria can be.

I started to feel the anger boiling under my skin. Anger that they could hurt Bella. That anyone would want to hurt her. I felt my face grow hot, my heartbeat kicked up a few notches and my breathing came quicker. I clenched my teeth and growled.

"Where are they?"

"Don't worry about them, Edward. They won't do anything to you. You're safe, away from the cafeteria," said Bella quietly.

"_You_ will never be safe as long as you are with me. They will keep coming after you, because we both have something that they want. _Us_. James wants you and Victoria wants me. They want to hurt us. I won't let them hurt you Bella. I won't. As long as I can do something about it, I won't let them hurt you." I looked into her brown eyes that showed concern, mixed with caution. She wasn't sure if I was in my right mind yet. I didn't blame her. I looked to the others hoping to find support in my vow to protect her.

"Victoria is vicious and vindictive. James has assaulted girls before. It's not a new game for them and they don't seem to get bored with it," said Jasper. "Edward is right. They want both of you. You've become their prey in their hunt for fun. The only way to end it is to become the hunter. We all know only to well that there's no evidence of any kind right now. We need to stop him before it gets to be too much. He would have posted bail by now if you had pressed charges against him yesterday. And that would just have fueled the fire more." Jasper looked at Emmett who was rolling his eyes at Rosalie.

"Jasper, our future Profiler," he laughed. "But he's right. We need to figure out how to protect both of you, and I think the best way to do that is to go on the offensive."

"I don't want Bella to get hurt. I think you should take a few days off of school. Maybe you can visit your mom for a long weekend," I said quietly.

"No. I'm staying here and dealing with the problem. I'm part of this. There is no reason why I have to be the only one to run. Besides, who will hold your hand?" she said with a kind smile. I stroked the back of her hand with my thumb. It felt good.

"Fine, but promise me you will be careful. I do not want to see you get hurt. Nothing matters anymore. I need you to be safe for my sanity, if not yours," I said with a crooked smile.

"Don't worry, I like my hide intact," she still smiling back at me.

"Ugh! I'm choking on all the syrupy sweetness here!" joked Emmett, grabbing his throat and pretending to choke. Alice punched his arm laughing. Rosalie rolled her eyes.

We all decided to go back to class and meet in front of the gym after school. If we're in a group, they may decide to leave us alone for now. And I didn't want to leave Bella alone if at all possible.

Bella and I walked to Anatomy class hand in hand. I knew everyone was staring at us. I knew that everyone was talking about us. About me. But when I was with her, it didn't matter. Nothing mattered but her now.

**Bella**

James and Victoria were obviously dangerous people. That didn't explain Edward's sudden interesting in keeping me safe.

I saw it in his eyes. He was worried. He really would do anything to keep me safe. I squeezed his hand as we walked to class and smiled up at him. In my room at night, sitting across from each other, I forget how tall he really is.

We walked hand in hand to our lab table. We sat down and pulled our hands away just long enough to get out our notepads to take notes. I knew I really didn't need to bother because Edward would know everything about today's subject and I wasn't going to pay much attention to it anyway. I was enjoying the feel of Edward's hand in mine. It was warm and firm. Strong. Edward didn't have the appearance of being strong, emotionally or physically. But holding his hand betrayed that appearance of weakness. He always covered up in layers of clothes, hiding his body from view. I wondered what he looked like under all those layers.

I quickly turned away, feeling my face grow hot. I was starting to think of Edward in a completely non-friendly way and I didn't know how he would react to that. I wanted to reach up and touch his face. I wanted to hold him close to me, to feel his body pressed against mine.

I reveled in the feel of his hand in mine during class. He rubbed the back of my hand with his thumb, stopping every once in a while on the freckle I had just under my thumb and index finger. I wanted to look at him, to see what he was thinking, to see if he was still really all right with holding my hand.

I peered up at him again hoping my face wasn't still red. He was staring at our hands, his breathing a little heavier than usual. I didn't know if he was panicking or excited. I opened my mouth to ask if he was OK, but stopped when he looked at me.

He looked hungry. He looked like he wanted more.

I gave him a small smile before turning away, wanting to give him more. It's been almost two months since that fateful first day, and this is the first time I thought of him as anything other than an annoying, self-centered ass or a friend. I didn't know if it was because of his protectiveness or because we were touching, really touching, for the first time.

I didn't care. I never felt like this with anyone before and I wanted it to last forever.

When the bell rang, we didn't stop touching even as we reluctantly pulled our hands apart. He put his foot under mine as we put our books away. As soon as we were packed, he grabbed hold of my hand again and helped me up. We walked out of class hand in hand, not looking at each other.

I briefly wondered if he felt the warmth between us as he walked me to the gym. I looked up at him before we let our hands drop. His green eyes burned with an intensity that I was close to matching. He was stunning. Before I could say or do anything, he abruptly turned around and left. I walked into the locker room still feeling the warmth of his hand in mine. I endured gym class a little easier today.

Victoria was not in class.

After class, I changed in the locker room as quick as possible. I knew Edward would meet me there and I couldn't wait to see him. My heart was racing as I raced out the door. I didn't know what to expect. Was he upset? Did he have an episode while I was gone? A million thoughts went through my mind while I rushed. I finally made it to the door and saw him leaning up against the doorframe. He immediately reached for my hand.

I smiled. He was fine.

Emmett cleared his throat and chuckled. I didn't notice him standing behind Edward and smiled shyly up at him. As soon as the others arrived we all walked to Edward and Rosalie's cars. Emmett and Alice got in the car with Edward and me while Rosalie and Jasper drove behind us. They wanted to make sure that no one was in the house. Apparently being the chief's daughter didn't mean anything to James.

I opened the front door and stood back as Emmett and Jasper ran through the house checking to make sure it was empty. Edward stayed by my side holding my hand as Alice practically glowed next to us.

"All clear," Emmett and Jasper said as they came out the front door. Emmett winked at me as he bounded down the four steps from my porch.

Alice grabbed me in a surprisingly strong hug before turning around and floating to Rose's car.

Edward and I were alone for the first time all afternoon. I looked up at him as they drove away and pulled him inside the house with me. I closed the door behind him and stood there. I didn't know what else to do, where to go. I've never been in the house alone with a boy that I felt anything other than friendship for.

I decided to go to the kitchen and start dinner for Charlie. I was to worried of doing something to make Edward uncomfortable. We walked hand in hand to the kitchen where I gently pushed him into a chair. I went to the refrigerator and started pulling out everything to make enchiladas. At least I can feed him without worrying too much.

We didn't talk. He sat there watching me with interest as I moved around the kitchen cooking. When I finished cooking, I put a plate in front of him and served him. I was too nervous to eat so I just watched him.

He started off poking at it like it might crawl off of his plate. I resisted the urge to laugh by opting to get him a glass of water while he took his first bite. I didn't make it spicy, not know if he could handle it or not. After his first bite, he started to really eat it. I smiled to myself.

He ate in silence and when he was done, I cleaned up and set it all up for Charlie to eat. He will see the missing portion and think that I ate already. We gathered up our bags and headed to my room. Charlie never bothered me once I was in my room unless it was something really important.

We haven't spoken to each other since we left lunch. I locked my bedroom door just in case Charlie got a crazy idea to come in. I sat on the edge of my bed and Edward stood by the door. He looked at the rocking chair and then looked at me. He took his normal seat on the chair to my disappointment.

"Bella," came his sweet, musical voice. I looked up at him trying to hide my disappointment from him. I know this is hard for him, but I wanted to be as close to him as I could. "Bella, I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I don't know what we are. I don't know what you want. I've never done this before," he said flipping his hand between us.

I looked away from him. I needed to think without seeing his green eyes searching mine. _What did I want? What was I prepared to get into? How far did I want it to go? _

After a minute I turned to look at him and saw pain in his eyes. He took my silence as rejection. I walked over to him, knelt down in front of him and took his hand in both of mine. I looked into his pain filled green eyes.

"I have spent most of my life fighting for something I could never have. My sister, my parents, my life; it's all prepared me for you. I know it will be difficult for of us, but I also know that if we want it, we can make it work. We can make _us _work. I'm perfectly fine going at any pace you want. I'm not going anywhere, Edward, unless you are by my side."

The smile he gave me lit up the grey skies of Forks and suddenly nothing else mattered. There was nothing in the world but him. I was abruptly swept off of my feet and landed on his lap where he had me in a tight hug. My own smile felt like it would tear my face in half.

We sat this way for most of the night. We listened to Charlie call me when he came home. I told him that dinner was done and that I had a lot of studying to do, all from Edward's lap.

We would look at each other; he touched me whenever he felt the urge to. He touched my hands, my arms, my neck, my cheek, my lips, my hair. I tried to not push it to far but I couldn't resist my urge to touch his face. I looked into his eyes as I raised my hand to his cheek. Before I touched him, I smiled, giving him time to say no. He sat there patiently so I placed my hand on his cheek ever so lightly. He gently pushed into my hand, rubbing his cheek against it, his eyes closed. It was surprisingly smooth and warm. I ran my thumb along his jaw line and chin. I lightly caressed his lips, his firm, warm lips. I licked my lips wanting more but again not wanting to push it.

He took my hand in his and slowly leaned in towards me. I held my breath, afraid to move, afraid I was dreaming. He hesitated just millimeters from my lips, his breathing erratic and shallow. His eyes were closed, mine wide open.

He moved in closer, our lips barely touching. It was like being kissed by a feather. I let out my breath and closed my eyes as I pressed a little closer to him.

He didn't move. Not at first. When I leaned in, he froze. And so did I. I thought about pulling back, but afraid that it might make him freak out more. Then, he grabbed my neck and pulled me closer. He kissed me with such fervent passion; his lips pressed hard against mine. Just as I thought I would faint from the lack of air, I felt his tongue lightly brush against my lips before he pulled back, putting his forehead against mine.

"Wow," Edward breathed. "That was totally worth waiting for."

I smiled at him and put my head in his shoulder, trying to slow my own breathing. I fell asleep in my bed that night, wrapped up in Edward's arms.

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I'm a review freak!!! Please tell me your thoughts since I can't read them! :)


	8. Chapter 8: Family

I want to start by saying thank you to everyone who has put Midnight Secrets as your favorites. I truly love the support and the reviews!

This chapter is a little longer but I hope you like it. I am looking for a Beta if anyone is interested or knows one, please let me know!

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**Chapter 8: Family**

**Edward**

I couldn't stop thinking about last night. About Bella. And my very first kiss. The kiss I never thought would happen. Even with my advanced vocabulary, I couldn't think of a single word to describe just how amazing it was. I floated out of her window in the morning, after brushing my fingers across her cheek. She smiled in her sleep before I slipped out of bed. I had told Bella last night that I would spend the day with her, and that I wanted to meet Charlie. I had to go home and get ready before Charlie started moving around.

But when I got home, Carlisle was waiting for me.

"Edward? Do you have a few minutes? We haven't had a chance to talk in a while," he said.

"Sure, Dad. What's on your mind?"

"I want to know how you're doing. I noticed you're hanging out with Bella Swan quite a bit lately. How's that working out?" He always was straightforward with his questions.

I couldn't help the smile that slowly spread across my lips. "It's working out great."

"Will you tell me about it, Edward?" I saw the concern etched on his face and in his eyes. He worried about me too much, and until now, he's had reason to.

"I can touch her, Dad. I can touch her without the compulsions sending me running. I can talk to her and know that she's not going to use what I say against me. I trust her. I really trust her, Dad. I never knew what it was like to completely trust someone." My excitement grew as I spoke to Carlisle about Bella. But through my excitement, I noticed he was becoming more upset. "Is that bad? Should I not trust her?"

"No, Edward, it's not bad. I'm happy for you that you found someone that you could be close to. I'm just afraid that it might be temporary. I don't want you to get your hopes up to high thinking that you are completely cured of your illness."

"I know. 'It can only be controlled, not cured,'" I recited years of being told the same line. "I'm not expecting to be completely well, but the fact is, _I can touch Bella Swan_. I held her hand. I touched her cheek. I even kissed her! Dad, please let me have this. I know that I have to be careful but I also want to enjoy it while I can." I was prepared to beg him. He was very protective of me and I didn't know if he would go so far as to forbid me from seeing her.

"I'm not going to stop you from seeing her. I know how futile it is trying to keep two teenagers apart," he chuckled. "I just want you to be careful and remind you that you can't expect to get over the OCD or even the PPD overnight. With that said… I'm happy for you, son. I've wanted nothing more than for you to be happy. If Bella makes you happy, then I'm behind you. I would like to meet with her though. Nothing serious, just dinner. We have to meet your girlfriend you know. It's our right as parents," he said with a smile.

I wanted to jump up and hug him, but I knew better. I haven't been able to hug my parents in over five years, I had to take small steps. So instead of hugging him, I clapped him on the back smiling from ear to ear. I agreed to bring her over for dinner tonight.

I bounded up the stairs to the third floor and closed the door behind me. I turned around to see Alice sitting on my black leather couch under the bay window holding my guitar.

"What's up little sister?" She was the only one who came into my room without permission. For some reason she didn't think privacy applied to her. I've gotten used to it over the years, so I expected it most of the time.

"How did it go last night? I know Dad was freaking out a bit, but we all convinced him that it was a good thing. Even Rose was on your side," she said with a smirk. "I think he was able to come to terms with it."

"Last night was great! We kissed! Now I think I know why you and Jasper, Rose and Emm can't keep your hands off of each other sometimes," I laughed. "I told her that I would spend the day with her today. Dad wants her to have dinner with us tonight to 'meet my girlfriend.' I hope she agrees to it. She's not very predictable," I said as I sat on the couch next to her.

"She is, if you know what to look for. She'll come. If it has to do with you, she'll come. She's as attached to you as you are to her. I don't know what it is about you two, but it works for you. I'm warning you, though, don't let it become co-dependency," Alice looked at me sternly. "That won't be good for either of you any good. Don't forget she has her issues too. She's lonely, even if she acts like she's not. But there is one thing that no one can dispute… she's good for you, big brother." Alice beamed at me. "She's getting you to see that you can trust people again. I'll see you tonight at dinner." She jumped off my couch, handed me my guitar and bounced out the door. She was like a whirlwind sometimes, drops in spin your head around and leaves.

I went through my new, shortened version of my morning routine and was ready to leave a half hour later. I ran out the door and straight into Jasper.

"Oh! Hey Jazz. What's up?"

"Hey Edward. Um…Alice sent me up here." He looked down at his feet, shuffling a bit. "Here!" He shoved a box in at me before turning bright red and looking really uncomfortable. "Alice thought you might want to have this, just in case." He turned around and ran down the stairs before I could even look at what he gave me. I looked at the box and felt like running myself.

It was a box of condoms.

I opened my door and threw them into the top drawer of my dresser that was by the door and shuddered. That was more than I could handle. I only just discovered that I could touch her without thinking I had to climb into scalding hot water and scrubbing every inch of myself with the coarsest brush I could find.

I ran downstairs and grabbed an apple from the kitchen before running out to my car. I ate the apple as I drove to Bella's house. It was a fifteen minute drive to her house and as I got closer I started to think that maybe she didn't want me there. What if I made up the whole thing? What if I was stuck in my own head? What if I was still stuck in yesterday's episode and my mind only thinks that I'm sane?

What if Bella really saw me for who I was and realized that she didn't want to baby-sit me?

Before I could put myself in a complete panic, I was in front of her house parking my car. Apparently my subconscious mind had to find out what was really happening. I turned off the engine and sat there. My apple core sitting in my garbage bag that I keep in the car, my radio turned on to classical music to keep me calm, my mind split in two directions.

Do I go in?

Do I leave?

Bella saved me from more personal agony by coming out of her front door. The instant I saw her all of my fears vanished. She was real. I didn't have to leave. I smiled at her as I got out of the car, ready to hold her hand and kiss her lips.

"Edward," Bella called quietly. "Edward, you have to leave!"

**Bella**

Edward's face fell, like I just told him that I killed his puppy. I didn't know what else to do though. Charlie had left early to go fishing with the Black's and saw Edward's car sitting outside our house. He had just confronted me on it when Edward pulled up. The last thing Edward needed was another confrontation after what happened yesterday at school.

"Edward, I'm sorry. Charlie is freaking out over seeing your car here early this morning. I just don't know how he's going to react. I'm worried about you. Please Edward!" I could see the hurt in his green eyes.

"You want me to leave?"

"Just for a little while. Let me talk to Charlie, and then you can come back. I have to make sure he's not going to freak out on you. I can handle him, but I'm worried about you," I repeated. He had to understand. I took his hand in mine and said "I want you here, Edward, with me always. But Charlie isn't taking it very good. He needs time to settle down. I will call you the second that I get him to see reason. Or the second that I'm ready to leave." I begged Edward to understand.

"Ok. I think I understand. I just got done talking with Carlisle and Alice _and Jasper_," he shuddered at the mention of Jasper for some reason, "about you. I will give you the time that you are asking for. Please call me soon." He squeezed my hand and got back in his car, turning it around and driving off. I hated seeing him leave me.

When Edward was out of sight, I turned and walked back into the house.

"Why didn't you let him come in?" Charlie asked. "You know I want to talk to him."

"I know Dad, but I need you calm when you talk to him. I need you to not scare him or he'll lose it. And I'm not talking about a temper tantrum. I'm talking about his tenuous hold on his sanity. Dad, I would never do anything under your roof that you would disapprove of. And normally I would tell you everything, but some things I know you will take the wrong way."

"Pft! Me? Take things the wrong way? I've had a boy sleeping in my daughter's room for God-knows how long, and you're afraid I'll 'take things the wrong way'? Are you in your right mind?" Charlie fumed.

"Yes, Dad. I am in my right mind. I know that I care for him. A lot. I know that he is the most innocent person you will ever meet. I know that you know about his condition since you are the Police Chief. I know that there have been run-ins with him and his family because of his condition. Do you really think I'll subject him to your current state of mind? You have to think that I'm insane to allow something like that!" I fumed back.

"You're right. I have had run-ins with the Cullen's because of Edward. I know what he's capable of, what they are willing to do for him. But it doesn't mean that I want you to have any part of it! How could you think that I want that for you after what your sister went through?" he choked. I could see the tears welling up in his chocolate brown eyes.

"I know you want to protect me. I know that you are only worried about me because you love me, Dad. But I'm not Jane. And neither is Edward. He's completely different from her. He can see reason if you put it in front of him. Jane didn't see reason in the end. Please don't compare us to her. It's a completely different situation. The only thing we do at night is talk. He sits in the rocking chair and sleeps and I sleep in my bed. We're fully clothed the whole time," I said as Charlie started waving his hands in front of his face.

"I don't want to hear it! I don't want to know what you two are doing in there!"

"But you need to hear it, Dad. You need to trust me. I know I shouldn't have been sneaking around. The Cullen's know and they trust him to know that nothing will happen. Dad, please trust me to know what I can deal with. If you can't, then I'll just have to find some other place to stay. I'm eighteen now, I don't have to stay here." I hated using that as blackmail, but I knew he didn't want me to leave either.

He stared at me. "I don't want you to leave. That's not fair, Bells. I just got you back. I'm willing to meet with him. I'm willing to listen to what you both have to say. But it will take a hell of a lot of convincing for me to allow him to stay in your room again. I trust you, it's him I'm not so sure about," he said sternly.

"Oh Dad! I know you'll like him! I know it's going to work out. I'm going to call him to come back, I'll be right back!" I hurried off to the phone to call Edward.

"Hi Edward!" I said without giving him a chance to respond. "Charlie's calmed down and he's ready to talk. Can you come back now?"

"Sure I can come back. Are you sure you want me to come over? If you don't want me …" I cut him off before he could finish that sentence.

"I want you to come over. Edward, please come back to me," I whispered.

"I'm on my way. I'll be there in less than five minutes." With that he hung up.

I placed the phone back in the holder and turned to see Charlie standing in the kitchen doorway.

"He's so insecure, Bells. Are you sure you want to deal with that?" he asked, concerned.

"I know that he has some issues to work out. Being insecure means that he trusts me, Dad. That's _huge_ for him! I really want this. I never wanted a boyfriend. You know that. I just wanted to go to school, finish college and try to help people. I never expected to find Edward." I heard his car pull up the drive. "He's here, Dad. Please stay calm!"

I ran outside to meet him at his car like I did earlier. This time I grabbed his hand and smiled at him, trying to reassure him.

"Hi."

"Hi. Is it safe?" he asked.

"It is now. I'm so sorry about that Edward. Are you ok?"

"I'm fine. We can talk about it later. It's time I met your father." He took a deep breath and squeezed my hand before walking up to the porch with me.

"Hello Edward," said Charlie. "It's good to see you."

"Hello Chief Swan. How are you?"

"I'm … not doing so well. I just found out that you have been sleeping with my little girl."

My jaw hit the ground.

"Dad!" I sputtered.

"It's ok, Bella. Technically speaking he is correct. We have been sleeping together. Just not in the context that he is referring to. Chief Swan, I have been sleeping in the same room as your daughter. Until yesterday, I couldn't even hold her hand. Please believe me when I say that nothing other than talking and sleeping is going on in her room at night." I noticed that Edward gets really formal when he's nervous around new people.

"You're right of course. I knew that. It's hard being a father of a daughter when you know how you acted as a teenage boy," Charlie winked at Edward.

"Ok, gross Dad. Way more information than I need to know about you!"

Both Edward and Charlie laughed. It was a good sign.

"Please Chief Swan, take into consideration that I can't get past my limitations over night. I will abide by any rule you may want to place on us while in your house. I would like to be able to stay with her at night though. Our talks have helped me immensely," Edward stated matter of factly.

"You are asking me to allow you to sleep with my daughter, in my house, and following my rules? I never thought I would see the day…" Charlie looked at me, then Edward, then back to me. "The rules are simple: The door stays open and I can check on you at any time. You will come in and leave through the front door. And I have the right to add to these rules as I see fit!" Charlie stood with his legs spread apart and his arms crossed. He was not happy about this.

"I agree to your rules and I will follow them. Thank you Chief Swan."

"Thanks Dad!" I ran over and put my arms around his waist and hugged him tight before kissing him on the cheek.

"Yeah, whatever! I may regret this, and by no means will you tell your mother yet! She will have a fit!" I nodded in agreement. "So what are you kids doing today?"

"Well, my parents wanted me to invite Bella to dinner tonight. Other than that, we had no real plans," Edward stated.

"Time to meet the parents. Ugh!"

"Hey I just met your dad… time to meet mine!" Edward teased.

"True. Why don't we hang out here until it's time? You can help me with some of my homework that I don't want to do!" I laughed. Everyone was much calmer now.

"Sure. Why don't you go get it? I'll wait here," he said eyeing Charlie who was still watching us from the middle of the room where he stood.

When they thought I was out of earshot, I heard Charlie ask "I heard you got into a fight with James the other day. I don't want him anywhere near Bella. If you have a problem with him, keep it between you two and don't drag her into it."

"I would never do anything to hurt Bella, Chief. But James and his girlfriend seem to have it out for my family right now. I will do everything I can to keep Bella safe," Edward promised. He said it with such conviction and feeling that Charlie would be a fool to not believe him.

I bounded back down the stairs, making as much noise as I could to let them know I was coming back.

"I'll leave you two to study. I'll see you in a little while," said Charlie.

Edward and I studied and managed to finish all of my homework for the coming week before it was time for us to go to his house for dinner.

I rushed upstairs and picked through my closet and found the only skirt that I owned, a black ballet style skirt, and a suitable blue sweater to match. When I finished changing, I looked at my brown mop of hair and sighed. I could never do anything with it. I decided to pull it back into a ponytail and raced back downstairs.

Edward was at the bottom of the stairs waiting for me. When I was on the second to the last stair, he stopped me and just looked at me from head to toe.

"Wow. You are absolutely beautiful." He reached up and cupped my cheek in his strong hand. I closed my eyes and leaned into his hand. He pulled me forward and I felt his warm breath on my face.

He kissed me lightly on my lips before pulling away.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Yes," I answered, breathlessly.

Edward chuckled and led me out to his car. During the drive, we held hands.

He held my hand as he helped me out of the car, and while walking up to the front door. I was so nervous!

"Remember Bella that you've met them before. This is not your first visit here."

"It's the first time that they will be meeting me as your girlfriend!"

**Edward**

I felt myself fill up with such emotion when she called herself my girlfriend.

I opened the door to the house and led her into the living room. We were met by Emmett and Jasper's bellowing laughter, Alice's bell-like laugh and Rosalie's guffaw. Esme appeared next to me smiling.

"They're playing chess again," she said in explanation. She reached out and gave Bella a quick reassuring hug. "It's good to see you again Bella. Please make yourself at home. Dinner will be done soon," she said with a warm smile.

I led her into the living room where we saw everyone huddled around the chess table by the window. Alice looked up and ran over to give Bella a hug as soon as she saw us. Rosalie just looked at me before sitting on Emmett's lap.

"Charlie's angel!" laughed Emmett. I couldn't help but laugh at his insistence of the lame nickname.

"Hi Bella," said Jasper, keeping an eye on Emmett in case he decided to cheat.

"Want to take the grand tour?" I asked quietly. She nodded and I led her to the stairs.

We up to the second floor where we saw Esme's workroom, a room with mannequins that was for Alice, and Carlisle's office which must have held the most extensive personal library in history. The second floor had Emmett and Rosalie's room, Jasper and Alice's room, and Carlisle and Esme's room. The third floor held only one room, my room.

I didn't say anything, just opened the door and stepped aside. She walked in and saw inside my head for the first time. Everything was in its place. It looked like it could be in a catalogue instead of a teenage boy's room. One wall was nothing but books and another wall had cd's and a guitar. She glanced at my four-poster king size bed with a dark green comforter on it, perfectly made. My matching curtains were drawn back to show a beautiful view of the river and forest from a bay window. There was a black leather couch under the window that she went to sit on.

"Edward, your room is amazing! It's almost as big as the house," she said stunned.

"Do you play the guitar?" she asked eyeing it.

"Yes, but I haven't played in a while. Maybe I'll play for you one day, but not today," I said quietly. I sat next to her on the couch, watching. "Bella, no one other than my family has seen my room. I thought it would make me uncomfortable, but I'm fine. It's all still so strange for me. It feels… _right _having you here." She reached up and rubbed my cheek with her thumb.

"Thank you, Edward, for bringing me here."

There was a soft knock at the door and we both looked to see Carlisle standing at the door.

"Edward, Bella. May I come in?" I nodded, knowing that he would want to talk to us. "I just want to say a few things before the chaos of dinner ensues," he said with a smirk. "Bella, I don't know how much you know about Edward's condition, but it's fragile. He's not a little kid, and we don't treat him like one, but we are protective of him. He can be unpredictable with his episodes, and very particular. Edward, I know that you feel absolutely wonderful with Bella, but I want you to remember that you are capable of hurting her, and you may never even know it. You're stronger than her; I'm just hoping you can be strong enough to help yourself.

"Son, I love you and I want nothing but happiness for you. You deserve it, more than anyone else I know. Please be kind and patient with each other. Know that if it wasn't meant to be, that you were happy while it did last. But watching you two together, I don't see you being anything but happy together." With that said, he turned and walked out of the room.

"Um, what was that?" Bella asked confused.

I chuckled, "that was his way of approving. He likes you and thinks we are good for each other, he just wants us to remember that we're not perfect and infallible like we may feel. And," I added reluctantly, "I tend to get violent when I am feeling trapped." I looked for her reaction, but there was none. She seemed interested more than scared. I had to tell her the truth so that she knew exactly what is at stake. "My last 'episode' sent Emmett to the hospital for three days. I thought he was trying to kill me. That was two years ago, but the truth of the matter is, I can do it again. There doesn't even have to be anything to trigger it, my mind will just tell me that I need to protect myself and I'll believe it."

"So Carlisle wanted me to know this, to be prepared if it should happen again," she stated. "I can't blame him. And I don't blame you. I don't think there is anything that would make you hurt me." She leaned towards me and kissed me softly on the cheek. "I believe we can make this work. I don't know for how long, I don't know if we were 'meant' for each other, but I do know that I care about you. I know that you care about me. We will see where that takes us."

Bella stood up and pulled me up next to her before kissing me again. We went back downstairs and it turned into a typical Cullen dinner, even if there was a non-Cullen attendee.

Emmett ate everything he could get his hands on, Alice ate almost nothing, Jasper sat next to Alice and talked to her most of the time, Rosalie fed Emmett more food from her plate, while Esme and Carlisle watched, laughed and ate sitting next to each other. I sat with Bella, for the first time not being the odd man out. We ate and talked just like we did at school. Everyone with their partner, in the presence of family.

It couldn't get any better than this.

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**Ok... so i had to throw in some family time there. I hope you like it! **

**Reviews are welcomed!!!**


	9. Chapter 9: Spring Break

I am so.. so... so... so... so... sorry that chapter 9 is so late! the holidays are rough! Thank you all for being so patient. I hope this was worth it!

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**Chapter 9: Spring Break**

**Bella**

"Bella, remember to pack your blue dress. Oh, and we'll be going out for a girls night out one day," Alice called out as I got out of Edward's Volvo. Edward took my school bag and walked me to the door.

"Why does she insist on dressing me?" I asked.

"She insists on dressing all of us," he laughed. "Just be glad she hasn't replaced allof your clothes yet."

"So, what time are you going to pick me up?"

"I'll be here around eight to pick you up, but you are I are going separately from the others. They'll take Rose's car and we'll take the Volvo. I wanted to talk to you about something before we get there… something private." He looked uncomfortable but not upset so I wasn't going to worry about it.

He's been trying to keep some things to himself and not telling his family absolutely everything in his life. It's been difficult for him, but it's something he wanted to do. Anything new that he wanted to try, as long as it wasn't dangerous, I felt compelled to support him. I didn't like the idea of keeping secrets, but they were usually harmless. I just hoped that he didn't start keeping anything from me.

"Ok. I need to run down to the Newton's before we leave though so I can get my paycheck. Charlie will be home before then so I'll get to say goodbye to him. That should make him feel a little better." I sighed. "I'll see you then." I reached up and kissed him before he turned to leave.

Charlie may have agreed to let Edward sleep at the house at nights, but it was very clear that Edward did not live at the house with us. Edward moved the rocking chair next to the bed to be closer to me so we can hold hands while we slept. We weren't allowed to go upstairs unless we were ready to sleep, but that was fine. Edward usually helped me with my homework then helped clean up the kitchen before we went up. He wasn't allowed to have anything left here except a toothbrush. Not even a change of clothes. It was Charlie's way of forcing him to go home as early as possible.

All in all, it really wasn't a bad set up. Edward and I never fought, Edward did whatever he could to accommodate Charlie, regardless of his ridiculous rules, and Alice was over as much as possible. She was the one who convinced Charlie to let me go with them to Seattle for Spring Break, which officially started today. Charlie has a hard time refusing her anything.

I went upstairs to pack and thought about what I wanted to take. I put the blue dress that Alice bought for me out so that I wouldn't forget it, and rummaged through my closet to find the blue sweater that Edward loved me in. Once I had those out, I pulled my other clothes out to get me through the week. That's probably why Alice tries to pick my clothes out for me; I didn't care so long as it was clean and in decent shape.

Once I had everything packed, I went to the kitchen to make sure that dinner would be ready before I left. I had made and froze food for the week and I left instructions on the freezer for Charlie on how to warm up each dish. I wasn't going to let him starve while I was gone, or worse, have him try to cook himself.

Once dinner was done, I ran out to my truck and drove the five minutes to the Newton's Sporting Goods store to pick up my paycheck. I only worked three days a week, but it was still something that I worked for. I was proud of my little check. I put all but one check away a month for my college fund, the other check went for things that I wanted. Edward insists on buying me anything that I want, but I just don't feel right taking from him when I can't give anything back.

Charlie drove up just as I was getting out of the truck.

"Hey Dad. Dinner's done so let's eat while it's still warm," I said.

"Sure Bells. What time are you leaving?"

"Edward's picking me up at eight. Don't worry, I'll call you as soon as I get to the hotel."

I started serving him and he was quiet for most of the meal. I knew he was going to miss me, but I was too excited to let it depress me. It's not like I wasn't coming back. We ate our dinner in silence, but when I got up to clean the dishes, Charlie cleared his throat. He looked really uncomfortable.

"Um, Bells. We need to talk. I know I should have said something before, with Edward sleeping over every night and all, but I won't be around to chaperone you while you're in Seattle." He looked everywhere but at me while he spoke. I knew instantly where this conversation was going.

"Dad, Mom already had this talk with me. Please, please don't go there," I begged.

"I have to Bells. I talked to your mom about the whole situation before I agreed to let you go. I know I can't stop you from going, or stop you from… anything else." His face was bright red and mine was growing hotter by the second with embarrassment. "Just make sure you're safe about it. And take this with you." He put a box on the table that contained a pepper spray bottle. He put up his hand when he saw I was going to protest. "If _anything _happens, use it. I don't think Edward will hurt you, but there are others out there. It's a big city, Bells. Anything can happen and you need to be prepared."

"Dad, I am from Phoenix. It's not like I'm some country bumpkin that's never been to a big city."

"I know, but they're two different cities. You aren't familiar with Seattle. Please just take it with you. I'll feel much better knowing that you have some sort of protection from the assholes of the city." He looked at me with such concern that I couldn't argue with him anymore.

"Ok Dad. I'll keep it in my purse with me. I'll be extra careful. I'll call you as soon as I get to the hotel and I'll call you before we leave to come back home. Don't worry, with Emmett around, not too many people will want to bother me," I said trying to lighten the mood a bit. He's still impressed with how big and agile Emmett is compared to the other Cullen's.

"Thanks honey. Go get your things, Edward should be here any minute."

I grabbed the pepper spray and ran up the stairs to grab my bag. I opened the box to put the smaller, more accessible bottle of pepper spray in my purse. I was about to toss the box when I saw something shiny at the bottom.

"Oh God. I _so _don't need this right now!" I muttered to myself in horror. I quickly grabbed the shiny packets and put them at the bottom of my purse, not wanting to look at them too closely.

I heard the doorbell ring and grabbed my bag and purse and ran downstairs. I gave Charlie a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek before I pushed Edward out the door and practically ran to his Volvo. I really didn't want to face Charlie.

"Don't worry Chief Swan. I won't let anything happen to her," I heard Edward say behind me.

I waited by the car for Edward, who promptly opened the car door for me. I slid in the seat and waved at Charlie while Edward got in the driver's seat.

"Let's get out of here. I don't want to give him a chance to stop us," I said to Edward. He started the car and pulled out of the driveway just as I saw Charlie step down and wave at us. "Keep going. If it's important, he can call me."

"Alright, what happened? You don't usually run from Charlie."

I really didn't want to say anything, but since he asked about it I felt that I had to tell him. "Charlie gave me a box of pepper spray to take with me." I took a deep breath and looked at him. His eyes were on the road and he looked confused. "The pepper spray isn't what's bothering me… He also put a pack of condoms at the bottom of the pepper spray box." His amazing green eyes grew big with sudden comprehension.

"What do you think about that?" He asked me quietly after a very uncomfortable minute had passed.

"I don't know. I just don't need my dad involved in anything like that. It creeps me out!" I watched him closely out of the corner of my eye. He looked like he was thinking about something but trying not to show it.

"Well, he _is _your father and the police chief. He's just looking out for you, Bella."

"Yeah, I know. It doesn't mean that I have to like it. I feel like he thinks I'm some skank running around. And it's embarrassing coming from my _father!_"

Edward cleared his throat and ran his long, exquisite fingers through his hair. "Bella, I'm not sure I…"

"Oh Edward!" I interrupted. "Don't worry! I'm not ready! At all! It has nothing to do with you, or Charlie, or anyone else. I'm just not ready to go there. You know that I love you, Edward, but I'm not even close to thinking about that yet!" I said turning to face him.

"You love me?"

It was the first time I had said it, to him or to myself. Did I love him? Or was I just having a teenager's ideal version of love?

"Yes, Edward. I love you."

**Edward**

She loves me.

_She _loves _me._

I had hoped. I had prayed. I had _begged_ that she might love me just a fraction of how much I loved her.

I couldn't keep my eyes on the road any longer. I pulled over to the shoulder and put on my hazard lights.

I turned to look at her, to see if she was being completely honest with me, and not just trying to placate me. I had to make sure that she wasn't just saying it because she thought that's what I wanted to hear.

She has never done that in the past, but I couldn't be sure until I looked into her deep, chocolate brown eyes to know that she was telling me nothing but the truth.

Sometimes my paranoia was annoying, even to me.

"Bella, I'm having a hard time believing that. As screwed up as I am, you love me. How is that possible?"

"Because I don't think you're _completely_ screwed up. Edward, there is nothing about you that I would want you to change. You are amazing in my book. I know that you have your issues and that we have our problems dealing with those issues. But I have my issues too. Yours are just more visible. You live your life instead of trying to hide from it. I find that to be the most courageous, and sexy, thing you can possibly do. So, yes Edward, I love you." She leaned over and put her warm hand on my cheek and kissed me.

"I don't know if I deserve you. If I deserve your love. I feel like I don't offer you enough. I do love you, Bella." I pulled back out onto the freeway.

"What did you want to talk about anyway that you didn't want the others to hear?"

"College. Have you gotten any acceptance letters yet?"

"Yeah. I got accepted to Washington State University and for some reason Harvard accepted me as well. I never thought I would be able to get into Harvard, but I got that two days ago. Why?" she looked at me suspiciously.

"Well, I also got accepted to Harvard. I put in a good recommendation for you from Carlisle. I hope you don't mind but I knew how much you wanted to go. Of course, I knew that I could get in with no problems so I asked Carlisle to send a letter on your behalf. I didn't know if you were accepted yet or not though. Will you go there?" I watched her out of the corner of my eye.

"All you did was send a letter of recommendation? I'm not going to go there and see a new Cullen wing in the library am I?"

I laughed. "No, no new Cullen wing in the library." _Hopefully she won't major in law_ I thought wryly.

"I've dreamed of getting into that school since I was about twelve. Yes, I want to go there. I'm sure you can get into any school you want. Do you want to go there or somewhere else?"

"Carlisle went to Harvard. I thought I would go there too. I know it would make him happy and you going there makes it even more attractive for me." I smiled over at her shyly. "What I wanted to talk to you about is the, uh, the living arrangements." I cleared my throat suddenly nervous.

"Oh. Ok. What about it?" She looked confused.

"Well, I… we could get a place together. We can get an off campus apartment and …"

"Edward Masen Cullen! Are you asking me to move in with you?" she asked incredulously.

"Um, yeah. I guess I am." I knew I shouldn't have asked her. I knew she wouldn't want to be with me once she was able to leave high school.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," she said quietly, looking at me with her soft brown eyes.

I reached over and took her hand and brought it to my lips. I kissed her palm lightly while I drove in sudden bliss. I held her hand for a minute in silence when I noticed bright lights behind me.

I moved to the right lane to let the person pass us, but he got behind me. I slowed down a bit hoping he would give up and go around, but he just got closer to the back of the Volvo.

"Stupid ass!" mumbled Bella. "Why can't he just go around?"

I decided to speed up and see what he did. He sped up to. He stayed just a few feet from my back bumper no matter how fast or slow I went. I was about to pull off the next exit ramp when he suddenly slowed down. His headlights got farther and farther behind us until he was at least a mile away.

"I guess he got the hint," I laughed.

We continued driving to Seattle with no problems. It took us less than two hours which was great. I hated traffic.

We got to the hotel where Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper and Alice were already waiting. I checked us into our room, which was in the middle of the two other couples and held Bella's hand while we walked to the room. Once we where in our room, we heard a knock on the door. It was Alice, of course.

"Hey Alice! Come on in," said Bella cheerily.

"So? What did he want to talk to you about that he didn't want us to know about?" Alice demanded.

I laughed and Bella smiled coyly. "I'll never tell!"

"Aw. C'mon Bella! You have to tell me something! I'm dying over here!" cried Alice dramatically.

"Alice, you will not die from lack of gossip. But I will tell you that it's good news. And we'll share it when _we _feel like sharing it. Now, go spend the night with your man. I have to call my dad and I'm tired as hell. I'm going to bed! Good night Alice!" Bella all but pushed Alice out the door.

My Bella was amazing.

She called Charlie while I got ready for bed. It would be the first time we had slept in the same bed in months. It was a strange thought since I sleep with her every night. I brushed my teeth and put on a pair of dark blue plaid pajama pants that I had bought just for the occasion and put on a plain white t-shirt. I also put on a pair of socks. You never know when you have to run out in the middle of the night because of some catastrophe. I also placed my shoes in the exact spot where my feet will be when sitting up in bed. Once they were lined up, I was able to crawl into bed and wait for Bella to come out of the bathroom.

Bella came out a few minutes later wearing her usual pajama bottoms and tank top. She didn't look at me as she turned off the main light and shuffled to the bed. When she slid in between the sheets and leaned over to turn off the light on her nightstand, I noticed that she had brushed out her hair and I smiled. I never understood why she did that.

I heard her sigh as she sunk lower into the bed. I reached over and turned off the light on my side of the bed and realized that it was completely dark and completely quiet. We always had a nightlight on at the very least.

"Bella, would you like me to turn on the bathroom light?"

"No, I'm ok."

I heard her moving around before I felt her warm hands and feet wrap around me. I stiffened from surprise. We've only shared a bed once before but I still wasn't expecting this.

I relaxed and put my arms around her before she could pull away. "I can get used to this," I said quietly to her.

"MMM. So can I."

* * *

"Edward. Edward, wake up," came Bella's hoarse whisper from beside me. "Edward, what's that noise?" I immediately got up to look out the door, slipping my shoes on as I stood up.

As soon as I opened the door there was a flash of pain as I heard my nose crunch. I was blinded from the force of impact and sheer pain. I heard Bella scream behind me as I was being shoved back into the room.

"Shut up bitch! Shut up before I break something other than his nose," the male voice sneered. I recognized the voice but I couldn't place it. The pain was too immediate.

I felt something being shoved into my mouth and a cloth bag of some sort was pulled over my head. I heard what sounded like duct tape being unrolled before I felt it being wrapped around my wrists. The whole time I heard Bella whimpering. I tried to fight them off; I tried to squirm away from them. I tried screaming and kicking. I was hoping to either hurt them enough to get them to leave or to make enough noise for Emmett and Jasper to hear.

"Your brothers and sisters won't be coming to your rescue. We slipped them a little something in their drinks at the bar downstairs. They won't be awake for _hours!_" sneered a female voice, again vaguely familiar. "We can do a lot before they wake up," laughed the woman.

I was hit across the face with something that made my head snap to the left. I was able to see that the lights were on in the room before I was dragged to my feet and shoved into a wall, hitting my head against a doorframe.

"Get in there you filthy freak," said the male. "Why don't you take a shower," he laughed as he dragged me to the shower and turned on the cold water. I tried to jump back out of the water but I hit the back of the shower and couldn't get away.

I heard the door close behind me and immediately tried to get free. I leaned forward until I was directly under the water before I started feeling for the water faucet. I didn't want to turn it off, but I turned the single handle more to the left so warm water could pour out of the showerhead.

I took a deep breath and tried to remember what the bathroom looked like, how it was set up. The shower was glass on three sides and the toilet was in a separate room directly across from the shower. The twin sinks were to my left and a bathtub at the end of the shower. The bathroom door was to the right. Since there was a tub in the bathroom, I knew I wouldn't have to worry about falling out of the shower.

I stepped out and sloshed to the sink on the left where Bella kept her toiletry bag. I turned around and stood on my toes so I could reach the top of the sink with my hands. I felt around the sink, slowly so I wouldn't drop anything, for her bag.

Finally my fingers touched something other than porcelain and metal. I inched my way around her bag until I felt the zipper. I carefully and slowly pulled on the zipper with one hand and held tightly to the bag with my other hand. Once I got the bag opened, I reached in and started shuffling around in it. I finally wrapped my fingers around the cold hard metal that I was looking for.

I used my thumb to flip open the pocketknife, making sure the keep it way from me. I slowly turned it around so that the sharp end was facing me. I started a sawing motion and felt one hand start to loosen. I was able to cut my way out of the duct tape and quickly pulled the cloth bag from my head and spit out the rag that was shoved in my mouth.

I looked in the mirror to make sure I was alone when I got a glimpse of my face. It was swollen and already bruising. My nose was in a very odd position and blood changed the front of my shirt to a reddish-pink color as it mixed with the water.

I looked around me and found her duffle bag that she left in here. I pulled out her bottle of pepper spray and went into the water closet. I picked up the phone that was sitting over the toilet paper roll and dialed the main desk.

"Hello Mr. Cullen. What can I do for you?" came a friendly but bored voice at the other end of the line.

"Two people broke into my room. I was locked in the bathroom tied and blindfolded. They have my girlfriend. I don't know what they're doing to her right now. Please send help!" I whispered feverishly. I hung up and slid out of the water room.

I cracked open the bathroom door just enough to get a peek into the room. I saw Bella tied up on the bed with a black bag over her head. She was lying there shaking. I had to do something.

I pushed open the door and walked quietly out of the bathroom. I used the mirror over the vanity area by the closet to see where everyone was in the room. I saw fire red hair fanned out over Bella and knew that it was Victoria. James had to be with her.

_But where is he?_

I couldn't find him. I stood up a little higher and still didn't see him. I turned a little more to see in the mirror that was on the right side of the vanity mirror and saw movement. He was sitting on a chair next to the bed.

Just then someone knocked on the door.

"Hotel Security. Please open the door!" came a loud command from the other side of the door.

I saw Victoria smile calmly behind her. James reached over and gave her a kiss before he straightened up. I crouched down in the corner. As soon as he rounded the corner I jumped in front of him and sprayed him in the face. I heard him gasp before I grabbed him by his neck and pushed his head into the wall. I heard Victoria screech in anger as I knocked James into the wall again.

There was suddenly a flurry of red hair beating on me from behind as I dropped James to the floor. I felt her jump on my back clawing at my face, pulling on my broken nose, and pulling my hair. I pushed back as hard as I could crushing her against the wall. I heard a thump as she hit her head against the wall.

Security finally made it into the room where they dragged James to his feet and pulled Victoria off of me.

As soon as she was off of me, I ran to Bella on the bed and pulled off the bag and the rag. I hugged her to me as close as I could.

"Bella! Bella! Are you alright? Are you ok? Did they do anything to you? Are you hurt?" I started blurting out questions, not giving her anytime to answer as I looked her over as best as I could in her position.

I reached around her and used the pocketknife to cut through her duct-taped hands and she answered me.

"I'm ok. Who was it? What did they want?" I could hear her voice shaking. She was paler than normal.

"It was James and Victoria. I don't know why, but they wanted to hurt us. We're safe now. You're ok now. I'm so sorry Bella. I'm so sorry. I …"

"Mr. Cullen? We need to ask you both a few questions. There's an ambulance on the way to check you both out as well. The police are on their way up the elevator as we speak. Are you ok with answering some of our questions now?" asked a calm, older security guard.

_How can he be so calm?_

"How are you so calm? Did you not see what just happened? I didn't see it, but I heard it. How are you so calm?" Asked Bella, voicing my own thoughts.

"I'm moonlighting as a security guard. I'm a police officer during the day. I'll be asking you questions that the police will actually want to know the answers too. My name is Marcus Aro."

"Hello Marcus. I think we can answer your questions. Bella?"

"Yes, I can. I don't really know what happened though. They blindfolded me so quick." Bella shuddered.

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I hope you like my first attempt at writing an action scene. I love reviews! I'll beg for reviews!

You really don't want me to do that do you?


	10. Chapter 10: Sticking Together

**Chapter 10: Sticking Together**

**Bella**

"I'm fine," I mumbled, again. Everyone insisted that I get checked out even though they didn't do anything to my but scare the shit out of me.

They should all be more worried about Alice.

When James and Victoria drugged them, they used the same dosage on all of them. That means tiny Alice got the same amount of drugs that huge Emmett got and it was too much for her. She hasn't woken up yet.

Everyone else was awake and in my room at the moment. Watching Edward and me.

"Bella just let the nurse finish. Charlie will be here soon. Don't you think he's going to want to make sure that you're alright?" Edward reasoned.

I just grunted in reply. He was right, of course. But I didn't have to like it. "How's Alice? Why isn't anyone with her right now?" I asked looking pointedly at Jasper.

He got a pained, sad, desperate look. "They told us to stay out for now. She still hasn't come around and they are running a few tests on her. James said that they used sleeping pills on us, which means she had an overdose of them," he choked.

I patted his hand and apologized, again. "I'm so sorry Jasper. I wish there was something that I could have done to get James and Victoria to leave us alone. They didn't have to involve you." He just shook his head.

I took the blame for this on myself. I, of all of us here, knew better than to provoke or ignore assholes like James and Victoria. I thought that they would just leave us alone after a while. I should have known better. I could handle it, but this lot was different. They were too fragile, innocent for the likes of _them._

"Alright dear. It looks like everything is fine. The doctor will be in to release you in just a few minutes," smiled the nurse as she put my chart back in its slot by the door and left.

"It's about time," I mumbled.

Edward looked relieved. His OCD was probably bothering him, being in a hospital, with sick people everywhere.

"Edward, how were you able to fight them off?" Emmett asked. "You won't even fight me or Jazz when we're playing around because of the whole cooties thing." He could be such a child sometimes. I snorted.

"Bella needed me. That's all I thought about. I didn't care about anything else at the time. I did what I had to in order to protect my family. I just… I wasn't quick enough." He shook his head and looked at me with agonized sorrow.

"I'm fine, Edward. Alice will be fine. Please don't blame yourself. James and Victoria are the only ones to blame here," I said quietly to him. I blamed myself, but there was no way I was going to tell him that. Not now. It wouldn't do him any good.

"Bella? Bella? Are you ok? What happened? Where's James? Are you ok?" Charlie started calling out questions before I could even see him through the door.

I took one look at him and saw my best friend, my father, my rock, scared and panicky. He was pale, his brown eyes wide and almost black, his voice was a little high pitched, and he was shaking.

"Daddy!" I cried. I never called him Daddy anymore, but I just needed him so much. I didn't realize how much until just now. When he came up to me, I reached up to wrap my arms around his neck and squeezed as hard as I could. "I'm fine, Dad. They didn't hurt me. Alice is the one who's…" I couldn't finish the sentence. I was afraid to say it much like Jasper. If she didn't wake up, it would because of me.

I noticed that everyone quietly got up and was leaving us alone. Including Edward. I threw him a grateful look when he turned at the door and smiled at me. He knew I needed my dad right now. He always knew what I needed, sometimes before I knew myself.

I pulled back from squeezing him so hard but I didn't let go. I started crying. I never cried anymore but it was just too overwhelming for me not to. I cried big hysterical sobs into my father's shoulder while he murmured "it's ok" and "you're safe now" and "everything will be ok" and rubbed my back. I felt safe before, but just having him here made me feel like a little kid again. If I hadn't seen the panic in his eyes, I probably would never have broken down like this.

I quieted my sobs after a few minutes and started take deep breaths to calm down. I was grateful that the others had left so I could freak out without making them uncomfortable.

"Bella, James and Victoria will be going to jail for a while. They won't hurt you guys anymore. Edward was very brave to fight them off, and I'll always be grateful to him for saving you. I know what James is capable of doing and I even know what he was planning on doing. If Edward didn't have the courage to fight them…" He just shook his head.

"Dad, I'm fine. I just needed to have a little freak out time. They didn't hurt me, at all. I was more scared than anything. Edward was able to get help before anything happened. I promise, Dad. I'm fine." I pulled back and wiped my face with the tissues he handed me.

There was a knock on the door before it opened and the doctor walked in.

"How do you feel, Miss Swan?" He asked with a smile and a distant look. He was preoccupied by my chart that he picked up on the way in.

"I'm fine," I said for the hundredth time that hour with a sigh.

"It looks like you are!" He exclaimed happily. "You're free to go. I'll need you to sign her discharge papers, Mr. Swan," he said. Charlie got up to leave with him so I could get out of this horrible hospital gown.

As soon as I was dressed, I walked out and straight to Edward's waiting arms. I hugged him tightly and kissed him lightly. "Let's go see Alice."

All of us walked out of the hallway and into Alice's private room where she was being monitored. She looked so frail and tiny in the huge hospital bed. I held on tightly to Edward's waist as we walked in.

"Alice," I whispered. I went to her side and Jasper went to the other side. We both held a limp hand and prayed that she would wake up. Edward pulled a chair over for me and Emmett brought one to Jasper. We both sat there holding her hands, waiting.

**Edward**

I knew she was blaming herself for this whole mess but there was nothing I could say that would make her realize that the fault belonged to me. I didn't protect her. I didn't keep her safe. I couldn't keep my family safe. My sister was in a hospital room in a coma because of me.

_How could this happen to us?_ _Why did this happen?_

We sat for an hour quietly talking about inconsequential topics to pass the time. Jasper and Bella never let Alice's hands go. They would rub them, squeeze them, once in awhile, Jasper would kiss her hand gently, lovingly. Nurses would come in every fifteen minutes to check on her with no change.

Emmett and Rosalie left to get us all some coffee after the first hour. They were gone for almost forty-five minutes. They probably needed time away from the sad scene we presented.

Charlie came in a few times to check on Bella and the rest of us. He tried once to get Bella to leave but the look on her face made it clear that she wasn't going anywhere.

I spoke to Carlisle and Esme quietly alone when they arrived. They had taken advantage of the vacation time to spend the week in Vancouver so it took them longer to get here.

"Are you sure you're ok, Edward?" Esme asked quietly, looking me overhead to toe and staring intently at my nose.

"I'm fine, Mom. They didn't find anything else wrong with me other than my nose," I assured her. Amazingly, I came out of the fight with only a broken nose, which was set in the ER quickly. I refused all other tests so that I could be with Bella.

Carlisle gave me a pointed look that told me that he knew about the refusal. I wasn't about to have Bella away from me any longer than absolutely necessary.

"Alice?" I heard Jasper say louder than he has been talking to her. We all turned around. Her eyes fluttered a bit. I held my breath, waiting. The room was absolutely silent of human noises.

"Alice? Can you hear me? Wake up, Alice. Please!" Jasper begged in an agonized whisper.

Nothing. No more movements, no sounds, just … nothing. Everyone's faces fell and movement started again. Bella put her forehead on Alice's hand. Esme moved to her side and put her hand on Bella's shoulder, watching Alice. Jasper caressed Alice's hair and whispered to her again. Emmett and Rosalie sunk down to the floor in the corner of the room holding each other. Carlisle put his hand on my shoulder before turning around and pulling out Alice's medical chart.

This wasn't about me.

This wasn't about Bella.

This was about the tiny, unmoving, unconscious person in the bed.

Six hours of standing vigil and nothing happened. There was absolutely no change in Alice's condition. The longer she was in the coma the harder it would be for her to wake up. We all ended up in the hospital chapel at one point or another to pray for her, except Jasper. He never left her side.

I admired his devotion to my sister.

I loathed James for doing this to them.

I had to go for a walk. I had to do something. I couldn't sit around anymore waiting. The waiting was killing me.

I walked the halls of the hospital using it as a distraction. I was walking around a hospital. I _hated _hospitals.

I ended up in the ER again. I walked around silently watching everything. I went into the waiting room and saw the people there. They looked sad, distraught, and miserable. I scanned the room, just using the people in there as a distraction from Alice and Bella and the rest of my anxious family.

That's when I saw him.

James.

He was handcuffed to a wheel chair with his free hand holding his head.

I sped across the room and lunged at him.

He saw me a second before my fist connected to his face. His head snapped back at the force of my blow as I growled at him.

"You son of a BITCH!" I roared. "YOU SON OF A BITCH!" I pulled back to punch him again as he snorted at me. "You're laughing? YOU'RE LAUGHING WHILE MY SISTER IS DYING?" I shouted. I could feel the blood coursing through me like poison. I wanted to kill him. I wanted to see the smile wiped off of his filthy face forever.

My fist connected with his face again. I watched in satisfaction as his nose spurted blood. I punched him again and growled at the blood coming from above his eye.

Suddenly I was being grabbed from behind as I pulled back for another hit. I turned around to see Charlie holding my arm and another officer pulling out handcuffs.

"Edward, don't do this. Your family needs you," Charlie said quietly. "Don't go to jail because of him. Don't let Alice wake up without you here. Don't leave Bella alone because you want revenge." He said all the right words to calm me down. The fire left my blood and I just stared down at James. "Go, Edward. Go now to Bella."

I turned and walked away. The entire waiting room was silent as I walked away except for the officer talking to Charlie.

"You can't let him go! He assaulted this guy right in front of us!"

"I can and I will. I know he won't go anywhere when his family needs him. We can get him later if we need to," I heard Charlie say before I was out of hearing range.

I stopped in a restroom to wash my hands of James blood. I only washed my hands one time though. I realized this somewhere in the back of my mind and I was incapable of any conscious thoughts at the moment. I looked in the mirror and just stared at my reflection.

I was a complete fuck up.

How did I let this happen? How did I let Bella get hurt? How did I let Alice get hurt? Why did I have to ruin everything for everyone?

I decided to leave. Once Alice woke up, I would leave. I couldn't hurt them if I wasn't here. I couldn't get them caught up in my bullshit if I wasn't around to cause any.

I straightened out my clothes and ran my fingers through my hair before I turned around and walked back to Alice's crowded room.

I heard their voices before I saw them. They were talking excitedly in hushed voices as I came around the corner. My heart jumped into my throat as I saw a nurse and a doctor run into Alice's room. My steps faltered but I somehow managed to keep moving.

"Edward!" Bella called as soon as I came into view of the room. "Edward, she's awake!" She walked quickly to my side and hugged me around my waist. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and squeezed her back. I dropped my head into her hair and sighed.

"Thank God." It was all I could say.

"The doctors are looking her over to make sure she's ok, but Carlisle already did his own exam and said she'll be fine," she said excited and tired. I pulled back to look at her. She was tired. Her brown eyes were dull and her skin pale.

"You should go get some rest Bella. You look like you're about to fall over," I said quietly. I didn't want her to watch me leave.

"Edward?" came a soft, tired voice from the bed. "I want to talk to Edward for a minute alone please," said Alice softly as the doctor and nurse left.

I gave Bella another squeeze and pulled away. As everyone left, giving me curious glances as they walked past me, I moved closer to the bed so Alice won't have to speak to loud.

"How do you feel, Alice? You should get some rest," I said quietly.

"Cut the shit, Edward. I know what you're planning on doing and you can't do it. I won't let you!" she exclaimed in a quiet but forceful tone.

"I don't know what your talking about Alice."

"I'm not stupid. I know how you are. I know that you are blaming yourself for what happened. I know that you are probably thinking about leaving." She sent me a pointed _tell me I'm wrong_ look. She took my silence as confirmation. "It's James' and Victoria's fault. You are not to blame. You are happy here. Bella loves you and I know you love her. There is no reason for you to do something stupid." Alice pleaded with me.

"Alice, I'm not doing anyone any good being here. I might as well head off to college now and save everyone more trouble. I've caused enough strife for the ones I love just being me. With my OCD and PPD and my way of attracting trouble, it's not worth it. Bella will be better off without me and you will be happier without constantly freaking out." I sighed and looked her straight in the eye. "I won't put the ones I love in danger anymore, Alice. I can't live with myself."

"You aren't putting anyone in danger. James did that. You are who you are. You have made the choices in your life that suite you, and we have accepted you and loved you. There is nothing you can do to change that. Not even Bella will agree with you. She chose to accept you for who you are and the choices you have made. She didn't know you before, but we all see the changes in you. Don't go, Edward."

"Alright. I'll stay. For now. Just get better Alice. That's all that matters now."

Alice was able to go home the next day, under the care of Carlisle. I tried to keep my distance from everyone since I still didn't think I was good to be around. I was bad luck.

Bella came home with us but then went to her house with Charlie that evening. I went over there at my usual time and went straight to Bella's room. I sat on my chair while she climbed into bed. Neither one of us spoke.

**Bella**

I sighed as I climbed into bed. Edward has been quiet and moody all day and I didn't know why. I also didn't care about our careful sleeping arrangements as I climbed into bed.

"Come here," I whispered.

"Charlie?"

"I don't care. I need to be near you. Please?" I asked. I was afraid of what he was thinking. I had no idea what he was thinking and it scared me. He always told me what was wrong if for no other reason that to talk about it.

He crawled in next to me and I snuggled up to him as he put his arm around me. I ran my hand over his chest and reveled in his perfect-ness.

"Tell me what's wrong?" I asked quietly.

He held me a little tighter and sighed. "I don't know, Bella. I … I can't… I _won't _let you get hurt like that again. I'm so sorry that happened and you had be scared like that. James and Victoria will pay for what they did. If I had my way, they would not taint perfectly good air by breathing anymore." He was practically growling the words. I felt him shaking under me as he struggled to control his anger.

I wanted to tell him that it was my fault for him getting hurt. I wanted to tell him that this had nothing to do with him, but me. I wanted to tell him that I didn't blame him.

But I knew only the last part was completely true. I had come to realize that this was all about James and Victoria having their own mental issues, not about Edward or me.

I rolled over on top of him and sat up, straddling him. I gripped his t-shirt that he wore to bed and I looked him straight in the eyes. "You. Are. NOT. The one to blame. _You saved me!_ I will not sit here and listen to your bullshit, Edward. I love you. I. Love. You. You are not going anywhere, you are not doing anything stupid, and you are not going to leave me. Understand?"

He chuckled quietly as he pulled my fists free of his shirt. He put his hands on my face and caressed my cheeks with is thumbs.

"I don't think I will ever get tired of hearing that," he smiled. "I'm not going anywhere. I won't do anything stupid, but I do blame myself. I should have seen that they were crazy. Hell, my paranoia alone should have alerted me to them. But you are right that I did what I could at the time. I just wish it was more."

I leaned down and very carefully kissed him. I didn't want to hurt his nose anymore than I knew it was already hurting him.

"By the way, I love you too," he whispered before wrapping his arms around me and pulling me back down next to him. I sighed as I curled into his side, my hand on his perfect chest.

* * *

Thank you all for being so patient... The holidays have not been kind with my time! Please send in reviews! I hope everyone has enjoyed my first ff... This is the final chapter. I will have an epilogue hopefully by this weekend.

Thank you!!!


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